The Dawn Scale City Chronicles
by The Lady of Dragons
Summary: New city. New dangers. With the academy destroyed along with the rest of Dragon City in a devastating earthquake Artha and co. have nowhere left to go for races and training except the one-and-only Dawn Scale City. Can he survive the new environment and an all out war with an ancient force once sealed away by the original Dragon Booster? Who else will he encounter on this journey?
1. Chapter 1 Welcoem to Dawn Scale City I

The Dawn Scale City Chronicles by The Lady of Dragons

Welcome to my Dragon Booster story. This tale takes place several months after the end of the TV series, when Artha and Moordryd were both accepted into the Academy and started to hate each other a little less.

The two rivals were preparing to head off to the Academy when a nasty earthquake struck. One of the support cables for the Academy building froze earlier in the year and had started to rust, so when the quake hit, it snapped, causing massive damage to the school. The Academy was forced to close until the damage was repaired, which was going to take a very long time, considering that the main part of the building had completely collapsed and most of the dorms were in ruins.

Artha and friends were stuck with nowhere to go and nothing to do. The all-city tracks were closed due to damage from the quake and lots of people had left to go live elsewhere until the major repairs were complete. Artha's father suggested that Artha and his crew head over to Dawn Scale City, Dragon City's sister city in the East.

The members of the Penn crew are in for a surprise. They have absolutely no clue about the people, crews, dragons, and adventures they will encounter in Dawn Scale. The first Dragon Booster left more behind for Artha than just a recording and some golden armor. He also left behind an enemy with a three millennia old grudge, determined to have revenge on the current Dragon Booster for the actions of his predecessor. But for once, Artha isn't the only target.

Chapter 1: Welcome to Dawn Scale City

Part 1 – Enter the Dragon's Claw

Artha and Beau walked down the winding streets of Dawn Scale City. The two were beginning to get accustomed to the way the streets twisted and turned like a labyrinth. This, combined with the new and unfamiliar street names, made getting around rather complicated. But they were improving, having only gotten lost once on this particular walk.

Walk. He and the others had been in the city for almost three days now and all they had done was walk. He was sick of it. _Well, it's not as if there is anything else to do around_ _here since race season won't start for another week, _he thought moodily to himself. He allowed himself to become lost in thought, trusting Beau to keep track of where they were going. As much as he hated to admit it, the golden dragon had a much better sense of direction in this new place than he did.

He allowed his mind to wander, mulling over what he and Beau were going to do for training now that the Academy was gone, when suddenly a rather large, four legged, blue dragon stepped out of a side alley almost directly in front of Artha and Beau. Beau stopped walking, but Artha didn't see the dragon and continued not to see it until he walked straight into its side! That caught his attention.

"Sorry about that," said the dragon's rider, dismounting quickly. "Are you okay?" Artha took the outstretched hand and was pulled to his feet.

"I'm fine," Artha mumbled, rubbing his leg where he'd fallen on it. He straightened up and looked curiously at his new acquaintance.

"Don't know where my mind has gone today, I'm Sharrd. The big fellow you bumped into is Vulken." Sharrd pulled off her helmet and flashed him a quirky smile.

Artha offered her a small smile of his own and Beau snorted.

Sharrd's long hair was a middling shade of brown and fell just short of halfway down her back in slight waves. Her bright blue eyes held small flecks of grey, and a small silver triangle mark at the corner of her left eye stood out against her slightly tanned skin. She was roughly his height, shorter only by an inch or two, and sported a light blue racing jacket with short sleeves. The front of her jacket was covered by a large section of turquoise in the shape of a diamond, with a silver claw-like mark on each shoulder extending towards her chest and similar marks coming up from her sides. Beneath her jacket she wore a lightweight elbow length shirt of pastel green along with light grey pants that contrasted her turquoise calf-high boots decorated with black claw marks.

"You're new around here aren't you?"

"Yeah. I'm from Dragon City."

"Definitely not from around here. Not even close to around here. Let me introduce myself again; I'm Sharrd Westfield, Vulken's rider, Dragon Claw," she held out her hand.

"What?" Artha ignored her out stretched hand in his confusion.

"Oops," Sharrd lightly smacked herself on the head. "I forgot for a second that you're not from Dawn Scale. That's just the way you typically introduce yourself here; first and last name, name of your partner dragon, and your crew. You do have a crew don't you? Almost everyone in the city is part of a crew."

"Yeah, I've got a crew." Just then the symbol stitched on the upper left hand sleeve of her jacket caught his attention. _That must be her crew mark. But it doesn't look like any crew mark I've ever seen. _Outlined in dark grey was a silver diamond slashed through diagonally by five black claw marks. "Wait, you said you were part of a 'Dragon Claw' crew, But that's not a real Down City crew is it? Because I've never heard of it."

"Of course it's not a Down City crew; those are only in Dragon City. Dawn Scale has its own set of crews based on the draconium colors. I've been told that they're bigger than the street crews you're used to, but they aren't nearly as big as the ancient Draconium Empires, though we do operate on a larger scale because, as I mentioned earlier, almost everyone here is part of a crew."

"This is giving me a headache," Artha grumbled.

"I bet." She paused for a moment and a strange look crossed her face. "Hang on, I just realized something; you and I have been standing here chatting like old friends for ten minutes, after I almost hit you with my dragon, and I don't even know your name!" She then burst out laughing uncontrollably.

Artha found himself smiling at her laugh; he liked the sound of it. It was one of those contagious laughs, and he soon found himself laughing along, as the ridiculousness of the situation hit him too. Once the two of them and their dragons were done laughing, Artha thought for a moment and then said, "Artha Penn, Beau's rider, Penn Racing."

"Very good, Artha," Sharrd nodded. "So are you a member of an actual crew or is you crew like a racing team, you know, just with a few friends?"

"My friends are my crew and my racing team, so we're not exactly a crew, but we are officially registered."

"A little bit of everything, eh? I suppose fewer people can be better, less to worry about." An idea suddenly struck her, "Hey Artha, would you like Vulken and I to show you and Beau around the city for today and teach you how things work here?" she offered, patting her huge dragon affectionately.

"That would be great! But only if I can bring my friends and my little brother too."

She grinned, "Deal. So what breed of dragon is Beau anyway? He's red and blue, and has four legs but he doesn't look like a Nautilus class or an Energy class. Well, his color reminds me of a few dragons I know, but that's about it."

Artha and Beau looked at Sharrd, then at each other, then back to Sharrd, who was now given them a strange look. They had absolutely no idea what to say as cover for Beau's unusual appearance because no one had ever bothered to ask them before.

"He's a mixed breed, a hybrid, not sure what he's a mix of though," Artha said quickly while Beau nodded vigorously behind him.

"Sure he is," Sharrd drawled as both she and Vulken rolled their eyes at the obvious lie "Artha, when you feel like telling me the truth, I will be waiting. I won't press you now, but I will tell you this; I can tell you two have power."

Artha and Beau stared at her shocked that she had seen through their flawless cover story. After a moment of awkward silence, Artha asked, "What about Vulken?" he gesturing to the large blue dragon. "Is he a Nautilus class?"

"No, he's not a Nautilus. Take another look."

Artha did just that and Vulken kindly stepped around Sharrd to let him have a better look. Artha noted the silver markings along the dragon's sky blue back and flanks, the strange jagged silver tail spines, and, in sharp contrast to the deeper blue of his head, the small silver triangle mark under his left eye that matched Sharrd's almost like an ID tag for dragon and rider. Vulken's claws were silver as well.

"What class _is_ he? I've never seen any dragon with silver markings like that before."

"That's because those markings aren't the only things that are silver. Vulken is a silver draconium Unity class dragon, an ancient breed kept alive by the Dragon Claw crew. Unity class dragons are supposed to be very distantly related the ancient gold breed of legend just like all the other classes."

"Silver dragons?"

"Why not? And I can and will tell you about them later, after you go get your friends," she replied, smiling at him.

"Oh that's right! I almost forgot, I'll go get them now." Then a thought occurred to him. "Did I interrupt something you were doing before I bumped into you?"

"No, I was looking for something to do, since racing season won't start for another week yet, and things get kinda boring when you have nothing to do besides spar with your crew mates for the thousandth time."

"I just didn't want to be a bother to you."

"Nah, don't worry about that. If I had something else to do I'd have told you that I did. Now go get your friends and I'll wait here, ok?"

"Sure, I'll be right back," he quickly mounted Beau and headed back the way he came.

She watched him go.

**"They have the Golden power," **a deep rumbling voice said.

"I know Vulken I felt it too. He and Beau must be the ones that we were told of earlier, and I get the feeling that our paths will get more intertwined than just our playing tour guides for them."

**"Could you hear Beau?"**

"Yeah, I could hear him. You already know that Dragon Claws can hear their dragons and that I can hear all dragons, so why ask if you already know the answer?" she looked up at the big blue dragon quizzically.

**"He is different. I wanted to know if his energy had any effect on your connection with us."**

"Ah," was her simple reply. "You never cease to amaze me, my shinning silver friend."

Several minutes later Artha returned with Kitt, Lance, Parm, and their dragons.

"Guys, this is Sharrd and her dragon Vulken." Artha introduced the two Dragon Claws to the rest of the group. "Sharrd this is everyone. Kitt Wann and Wyldfyr," he pointed to each pair as he spoke. "Parmon Sean and Cyrano, lastly, my short little brother Lance, and Fracshun."

"Hey! I am not short!" Lance cried.

Sharrd laughed, "You think you're short? You're taller than I was up until three years ago."

"Really?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Artha's just being a dork to impress you!" Lance exclaimed quickly, and then ducked. A second later Artha's fist would have nailed him in the shoulder if he hadn't moved. Sharrd began to laugh at the brothers along with Kitt and Parm and Artha flushed as he chased Lance around, trying to get revenge.

"Well, it's nice to meet you all," Sharrd said, turning back to the rational members of the Penn crew. "As Artha said I'm Sharrd and this is Vulken. Welcome to Dawn Scale City!"

"M-my what a l-large dragon you have," stuttered Parm.

"Yeah, he's pretty big." Kitt grinned, "But can he race?"

"You bet he can. And I guess you'll get to see firsthand just how well the two of us can race when race season begins," Sharrd added, a competitive gleam in her eye. Then she grinned and changed subjects, "Since it looks like we are going to be your tour guides today are there any questions you have for me that I can start with?"

"Actually yes," said Parm. "On the way over here, Artha was babbling about a lot of things and he mentioned something about your being in a crew. Would you mind clarifying that a bit, because if I had to judge by appearances I would say you don't look like the member of a street crew…" he trailed off, laughing nervously, half afraid she was going to bite his head off for hinting that she might be a street thug.

"I'd be happy to explain, but it will take a while. Why don't we all go over to the park a few blocks from here? Then I will tell you everything and more."

Meanwhile the dragons had of course been having their own conversation.

**"Everyone, this is Vulken," **said Beau.** "His rider is Sharrd, the one Artha was going on about on the way here. Vulken this is everyone. Wyldfyr is the red, Cyrano the green and Fracshun the blue, you already heard Artha introduce their riders." **

**"You're really big, for a Nautilus class," **Fracshun squeaked.

**"Y-yeah," **Cyrano agreed nervously.** "You're not gonna put us in cages like the other crews did are you?" **

**"First of all, I'm not a Nautilus I'm a Unity class. And second, why would I, or any of the crews, want to put you in cages?" **Vulken asked, rather surprised at the ridiculous question. **"As my rider is about to explain to yours, the crews here are not like street gangs. Now let's go to that park so you can all get comfortable, this is going to be a long explanation," **he said as Sharrd vaulted onto his back.

**End of part 1**


	2. Chapter 2 Welcome to Dawn Scale City II

The Dawn Scale City Chronicles by The Lady of Dragons

Chapter 1 – Welcome to Dawn Scale City

Part 2 – The dawn of Dawn Scale

It didn't take them long to reach the park and Sharrd led them to a large patch of shade beneath the branches of a large tree beside a pond. Riders and dragons made themselves comfortable on the grass and Sharrd began her story.

"Before I can explain my own role in the city's crews in a way that will make sense, I'll have to give you all a hopefully brief description of Dawn Scale and the history of its crews. You've all undoubtedly heard of the Dragon-Human war and the first Dragon Booster, but this story begins not too long before that, with another war, of sorts. Dawn Scale hasn't always been here, and before it was built people lived in small colonies in the surrounding area.

"The colonies usually stayed separate, preferring to leave each other alone for the most part, and it stayed that way for a long time. But, as you've probably guessed, that didn't last forever. An army of demonic beings appeared, seemingly out of the earth itself, and began to attack the scattered people. Fearing that their destruction was imminent, groups formed based on draconium color, each color choosing a leader from among their ranks. Fourteen colors, but only thirteen leaders."

"Hold on a second," Lance cut in. "You said fourteen empires, but including us, Dragon City only has thirteen crews."

"True. But here, there's the silver draconium crew; the Dragon Claw. That's my crew."

"Silver draconium?" Kitt asked curiously.

Sharrd nodded, "That's right. But continuing on with my story; the thirteen leaders eventually were able to fight of the demons, as they were decidedly called, and sealed them away back where they came from. After that, our ancestors built Dawn Scale with the dragons and riders of the draconium groups eventually becoming the crews we have today."

"Sounds a lot like the legends of the draconium empires back home," Artha mused.

"Well, the crews here are practically twin to those you have in Dragon City," Sharrd remarked.

"How so?"

"Well, Parm, the best way for me to answer that question would be to go on with my earlier explanation. You all will want to prepare yourselves; this is going to take a while. To begin, I think I'll start with the red draconium crew; the Volcanites. One thing you'll want to remember is that, aside from obvious things like draconium color, the ancient empires had certain defining characteristics and values that have carried down into the crews you see today. Each of the crews has a short saying, or motto, which includes those values; thought some of them are a little cheesy, and they aren't used very often.

"Back to the Volcanites; they're proud and bold, and they never hesitate to accept a challenge or take it up a notch; qualities all embodied in their…energetic leader, Coal Solen, and his, thankfully sensible, dragon Migma. They're twin to your Dragon Flares crew, honor and all. Lastly, their saying is: _Never back down, never hesitate, and always turn up the fire._

"The Storm Riders are the white draconium crew. Lead by Vortex Altima and her dragon Hurricayn, and twin to your Dragon Winds crew; they are all about achieving more, going places that others have never gone and are too afraid to go. Their motto is: _You must be willing to go further, faster, higher and forget about winning to achieve true glory. _

"Next is the black draconium crew; the Dragon's Shadow. Lead by Shayde Morrana, and her dragon Mistic, and twin to your Dragon Eye crew. They're not the most upbeat bunch, but they're certainly trustworthy and good at keeping secrets. They know a lot about strange creatures and phenomena, but for the most part they're mysterious. When it comes to racing, their about as hard to pin down as the shadows they admire so much. _To fear the unknown is to fear life itself_. That's their maxim," Sharrd stopped for a moment to catch her breath.

Artha frowned, "They don't sound much like the Dragon Eyes. Are you sure they're connected at all?"

Sharrd chuckled, "If what I've heard is accurate, then I can see what you mean. The Shadows do stick together, and what's more, they're really good racers; Vulken and I have run our share of races against them and they're no joke."

"I guess we'll just have to be the judges of that on the track," Kitt grinned. Artha nodded, his competitive nature flaring up at the prospect of a challenge.

"Yes, yes, that's all well and good; but can we please get back to the story?" Parm, who had been taking notes, protested. "I'd like to hear the rest before you change the subject completely."

"No problem; I'll keep going. Now where was I? Oh, right! The Aqua Scales! The Aqua Scales are the light blue draconium crew, and twin to your Dragon Fish crew. They're all about versatility, being ready for anything, and knowing how to react to unexpected situations. They're also always willing to lend a hand, and in some occasions, a fist. Lead by Tydal Sunai and his dragon SlypStreem; their motto is: _You can overcome any obstacle; the first step is to accept that it's there, only then can you overcome it and move on._

"The Force of the Dragon, the brown draconium crew, is twin to your Will of the Dragon crew. Lead by Terros and his dragon Tecton; they are all about making careful choices and being aware that having power and strength, which they certainly do, does not mean that you should use it. Also, once they've made up their minds about something they typically don't change them.

"The Order Code crew is the blue draconium crew, and twin to you Inner Order crew. Under the leadership of Mai Tolena and her dragon Volttage, the Order Codes focus on maintaining the balance of power between the crews, and between dragons and humans. They are skilled, disciplined and their motto is; _Being strong is worth nothing if you act before you think._

"The orange draconium crew is the Glyph Keepers. And though they are twin to your Prophets crew, draconium color is just about the only thing the two have in common. Unlike the Prophets, who are rather frightening and bent on world domination and the destruction of the human race, the dragons of the Glyph Keepers are not very inclined to interact with the outside world much, sometimes to the point of remaining in their compound most of their lives. The riders often have to work on getting their dragons accustomed to the world, but the problem has gotten much better in the past decade or so. Erra Centuren and her dragon Eeyon lead the Glyph Keepers, and are the keepers of not only their orange dragons, but also of the Ancient Library. Control class dragons are the perfect guardians because they love knowledge they will fight to the last to keep anyone they do not deem worthy from entering their library. Their motto is; _There will always be those who are afraid of the world and likewise there will always be those who are willing to help them._"

"What a refreshing change from the usual psychotic attacks and elaborate schemes," Parm muttered.

Sharrd raised an eyebrow, "You've seen the Prophets crew dragons? And, as I take it, been attacked by them?"

"Yeah," Artha sighed. "It wasn't exactly _fun_."

"Doesn't sound like it. Your hometown seems to be a bit rougher around the edges than Dawn Scale. But at least you've had adventures, of sorts. Around here, the most exciting thing I've ever experienced was probably helping Erra reorganize one of her big bookshelves, and that was three years ago."

"What about race season?" Artha pointed out. "Isn't that interesting?"

"Well, it's not dull, but racing isn't my whole life like it is some people's, so I like it when there's other stuff to do. But this year is definitely going to be interesting."

"Ahem," Parm coughed pointedly.

"Ah, sorry. I'll continue now. The Dragon's Forge crew is next. They're the light green draconium crew and twin to your Keepers crew. Like them, their dragons are quick and nimble and would much rather tinker with things than get in a fight. As their name suggests, they're the some of the greatest gear smiths in the entire world; you won't find a better piece of gear anywhere. Only a select few even know where their official compound is. Run by Gearr Tandun and his dragon Dryl, their motto is; _Don't make more problems, fix the old ones. _A rather agreeable statement, don't you think?

"The grey crew, known as the Broken Dragon, are twin to you Mechanists crew. The crew leaders are Bollt Theyban and her dragon Lumino. Compared to the Dragon's Shadow, who are mysterious in general, the Broken Dragons just plain don't like us. I wouldn't go so far as to say that they hate us, but the overall attitude has been isolationistic, to say the least. They simply prefer their solitude; something about the grey draconium makes it that way. They usually only come to the city when they sense danger is coming, or when it is required by the crew laws, like the start of racing season meeting. They do, however, race in almost every race and participate in almost every competition."

"Wait a minute," interrupted Kitt. "Wouldn't those big grey dragons be too, you know, _big _to race? It would be unfair to everyone else."

"Well, normally you'd be absolutely right. But you're only familiar with those giant Grey Bone dragons," Sharrd replied. "As usual, things aren't exactly 'normal' here. Our grey dragons are relatively close to Vulken's size, but it varies from dragon to dragon. And they do race, quite well actually. They're particularly good at stamina races."

"What _don't_ you guys have here?" Lance asked sarcastically. "You have silver dragons and miniature grey dragons. What, do you have races for twelve year olds too?"

Sharrd looked at him curiously, "You mean the Underage Crew Member Races? Yeah we have those; called the UCMRs for short. We like to give our younger crew members a chance for some practice. The minimum age is eleven so you defiantly qualify."

"You do realize he was kidding, right?" Artha asked.

"He may have been, but I'm not," Sharrd replied, completely serious. "Every crew has younger members, and we set up races for them so that they aren't left out of the action or experience. Young racers tend to get restless without something to do, this way they're kept occupied and out of trouble."

Lance's eyes widened, "Really?! I can't wait for racing season! Artha and Kitt aren't the only ones who get to do something fun!"

"Okay, last thing about the Broken Dragons; their motto is; _Everything can be broken and destroyed_. Next up is the purple draconium crew known as the Dragon Fang, twin to the Army of the Dragon crew. The crew works like a highly organized unit, and operates in a military style, even going so far as to call their leader 'General'. Their motto is; _Nothing escapes the fangs of the dragon_. Hunnter Vale and her dragon Onslaut are the leaders of the crew."

Sharrd was about to begin the next crew, when Artha suddenly jumped up, "Wait a minute! You said, Vale, as in Hunnter Vale, right?"

"Yeah, what of it?" Sharrd regarded him curiously.

"I just remembered that before we left Dragon City, Wulph asked me to give this to someone named Hunnter Vale here in the city when he heard we were heading to Dawn Scale," Artha replied as he rummaged around in one of the travel bags on Beau's saddle before triumphantly pulling out a slightly battered envelope.

"From Wulph?!" Sharrd exclaimed in disbelief and Vulken's head shot up from its resting place on the ground beside Sharrd.

"What's wrong with Wulph?" asked Kitt,

"Nothing is wrong with Wulph; quite the opposite actually," Sharrd hastily explained. "I was just surprised, because Wulph is Hunnter's older brother; and she hasn't heard from him in about two years, let alone even seen him for far longer than that."

"Wulph has a younger sister," Parm repeated. "I would never have guessed."

"None of us would have guessed, professor," Kitt replied. "Wulph doesn't seem like the 'big brother' type."

"We should go take this to her now; she'd want to see it as soon as possible," Sharrd declared.

"But you still have three more crews to tell us about," Lance whined. He'd been somewhat enjoying the story.

"I can talk as we go, if that's alright with you guys. It's just that this letter is really important."

"Sounds good to me. You, Stable boy?

"Sure. If I hadn't heard from a family member in that long, I'd want to have any news I could get as fast as I could get it. And I'd also like to meet some of these people you keep talking about."

"Thank you; this means a lot to me. Come on, the Dragon Fang sparring grounds are this way," Sharrd took the lead as they mounted their dragons and headed out of the park.

"So what's the next crew?" Parm inquired as they made their way up the streets.

"The next crew is the Dragon's Hammer crew; the green draconium crew," Sharrd replied over her shoulder. "They are twin to your Grip of the Dragon crew. Tough, hardy, strong, and stubborn just about sums them up. They are all about showing your strength and not just physical strength; many of them are quite intelligent as well. My advice: never get into a debate with any of them; it's almost impossible to win and will get very frustrating if you try. Lead by Myght and her dragon PowrHouse, their motto is; _If you aren't strong enough to hold your place you don't deserve to keep it._ Not the best motivational saying, but it seems to work for them. Another interesting fact is that Myght is Phistus' cousin.

"Ok, second to last crew: the Dragon's Whisper. They're not very much like their sister crew, the Voice of the Dragon. Being noticed is certainly important to them, but not for causing trouble, at least not anymore. Under the previous leaders, Upstrt and his dragon Outcri, the Dragon's Whisper were a bit more…rowdy than they should have been. But when Rumma and Upror took charge, they changed that attitude completely. The Dragon's Whisper are in charge of information; they do things like make newspapers, run the radio tower, update webpages, and they're well known for their singing. In fact, Rumma is actually a big pop star here in the city. Lastly, their motto is; _Everything starts with one little whisper_."

"So the next crew is yours, right?" Lance asked.

"You bet," Sharrd nodded. "The last crew is the silver draconium crew, known as the Dragon Claw. We're not twin to any crew, seeing as silver dragons aren't exactly common outside of Dawn Scale."

Parm crossed his arms, both skeptical and curious at the same time, "Why haven't we heard about this before?"

"It's kind of a secret that everybody knows. See, people around here, they like how things are, and no one wants the city to become a tourist trap. We have a few outside visitors, like you guys, but for the most part there isn't a whole lot of traffic flow from other places."

"But wouldn't those visitors just tell other people?" Kitt pointed out.

"As I kind of just said; we don't really have visitors, other than people's family members and they already know to keep quiet about it. You guys are the first new people we have had in a while, since most people only come here for a short time, not long enough to pay us much attention. They assume we're just another crew and that's that. There's also probably been a good deal of luck involved."

"Is suppose that makes sense…" Parm trailed off, lost in thought.

"Anyway, continuing on with my crew's description. We're a bit odd in other ways too. You don't join by signing up; the hatchling picks you, as opposed to you picking the hatchling. Not all of the dragons look alike either. Take Vulken for example; he happens to resemble a Nautilus class, but the next Unity class you see could be bipedal and patterned like a Bull class. That's because silver draconium is a jumble of the other colors; so it's not hard to see why out motto is; _Every dragon has claws, no matter what shape, size, or color_. I suppose another way to put it, is that we're the mutts of the city. But, then, who doesn't love a good puppy, right?"

They all paused to give her a strange look, and Artha asked, "Um, what's a puppy?"

Artha frowned, "I think I remember Word Paynn mentioning something like that once."

She waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, just something I read about in a book of made-up creatures."

"Sounds creepy," Lance muttered to Fracshun, who shuddered in response.

While the others were talking, Parm was looking up something on the web with wrist com. He has this nagging feeling and he couldn't figure out why.

"You haven't told us your crew leader yet," Artha remarked.

"Yeah, about that..." Sharrd trailed off. "I, uh—"

She was cut off by Parm's sudden exclamation of, "No way!"

"No way what, Parm?"

"I can't believe it!" Parm repeated, appearing not to hear Lance.

"Can't believe _what_, professor?" asked Kitt, stressing the question.

"Sharrd, why didn't you tell us you're the leader of the Dragon Claw!?" Parm finally declared.

Sharrd sighed, "I was about to. But the reason I didn't mention it sooner is that I didn't feel like sharing it, and I wasn't really sure how you'd react. Besides, it wasn't important for you to know."

"Wasn't important," Kitt echoed flatly, one eyebrow raised. "Why would that not be important?"

"Why _would_ it be?" Sharrd countered.

"It's not that," Parm shook his head. "We're just used to being cautious about who we follow around. It's nothing personal, but in Dragon City, people tend to hide things for a reason, and that reason usually isn't good."

"I suppose I can't argue with survival instincts. Suspicion is, after all, nature's defense against making stupid decisions. I take it that your hometown crew leaders aren't exactly open books?"

"You could say that," Kitt replied.

"But not all of them are bad," Artha added. "We're friends with a few of the leaders, and that's worked out alright."

Kitt smirked, "That's because they're all too busy winning the race to worry about you, Stable boy."

"Hey!" Artha exclaimed indignantly.

Sharrd chuckled in amusement, "Come on, we've got a letter to deliver and the Dragon Fang sparring grounds are just around the corner." And she spoke the truth, for soon, they could all here the sound of clashing metal and the roars of dragons— and it was getting louder by the second.

**End of Chapter 1 **

** Part 2**


	3. Chapter 3 Welcome to Dawn Scale City III

The Dawn Scale City Chronicles by The Lady of Dragons

Chapter 1 – Welcome to Dawn Scale City

Part 3 – Letters from Home

"Magna Draconis," whispered Parm.

"This is a _sparring ground_!?" Artha exclaimed. "It looks more like a warzone!"

All four of them stood starring at the scene before them; the dragons were equally overwhelmed. Four racing tracks, six roped off fencing squares, two jousting lists, a gear shed and an obstacle course, occupied the large sparring ground, as Sharrd had called it.

Sharrd had dismounted and was looking around, no doubt trying to find Hunnter amid the chaos, when a purple-clad rider, staff in hand, and his Pack class partner walked up to them.

The rider looked at Sharrd, "Name, crew, and business here," his tone was stiff and formal, as was his bearing, and that of his dragon.

"Sharrd Darius, Dragon Claw, accompanied by the Penn Racing crew from Dragon City; here to deliver a letter to General Vale."

The same question was addressed to Vulken by the Pack class, to which Vulken replied, **"Vulken, Dragon Claw, accompanied by the Penn Racing dragons; here with a letter for the General's rider."**

The rider smiled, all his formality suddenly gone, "Ah, it's good to see you again, Sharrd."

"Yes, it's been a while, hasn't it, Crosfyr? How are you and Scatrshot?"

**_(AN: Crosfyr is 17 and Scatrshot is male)_**

"We've been well, thanks for asking," Crosfyr replied, stroking Scatrshot absentmindedly. "The General and Onslaut are in the second sparring field with the Mekadel siblings."

"Thanks, Crosfyr," Sharrd inclined her head.

Crosfyr smiled, acknowledging her thanks, and went back to where he had been prior to their arrival, Scatrshot following closely.

Sharrd and Vulken started towards the second sparring field, but paused when they noticed that no one else had moved.

"Are you coming?" she called over the noise, then muttered to herself, "Newbies; gaping like they've never seen a proper sparring ground before. They haven't seen anything yet."

**"No,"** Vulken rumbled, **"They really haven't seen anything yet."**

The Penn crew snapped out of their daze and hurried to follow Sharrd over to the sparring field. They were met with another astounding scene: one rider and dragon facing off against two other pairs. And the singe pair was winning.

Sharrd braced herself on a nearby post, leaning on her elbows as she watched the match. "The blond girl on the dragon with green markings is Venture Mekadel and Ramparrt is her dragon's name. The boy and the dragon with red markings are Ordr Mekadel and Forttress; both happen to be the younger brothers of Venture and Ramparrt. The single rider is evidently Hunnter, and Onslaut is the dragon with light blue arrow markings."

She was about to make another comment, but was cut off as Venture struck, lightning fast, with her staff and Ramparrt made a speedy slash at Onslaut with her claws. Hunnter effortlessly caught the blow on her staff as Onslaut ducked smoothly and retaliated with a slash of her own. Ordr and Forttress took advantage of her momentary distraction, and attacked in the same pattern as their siblings had. Hunnter saw him out of the corner of her eye and shouted something that caused Onslaut to spin rapidly in a circle, slamming the other pairs with her tail, hard. Both were knocked sprawling on ground. The whole fight happened so fast it was nearly impossible to tell what had just occurred.

"Nice work," Hunnter remarked as she dismounted and helped her comrades up from the dust. "You were both much faster and your reaction time was much improved too. We'll continue working on the tandem pattern later."

Suddenly, it hit Artha and the others.

"Those two weren't training her; she was training them!" Kitt exclaimed, giving voice to what they had all just realized.

"This time, yes, but that's Hunnter for you," she swung herself over the ropes and walked up behind Hunnter, just as the General was saying, "I'd hit the showers if I were you two; you're covered in mud and dust. Your time is yours for the rest of today and tomorrow. After tomorrow, though, I'll need you and the others to help get the new trainees settled into their barracks back at HQ. They've been out on the Trek for the past few months, and are just itching for the ceremony to being in three days," then, she cracked a smile, "Let's just hope we don't have to get the tranquilizers out again this year."

"Sir," the siblings answered with a grin, saluting Hunnter, who saluted back.

Onslaut spoke to Ramparrt and Forttress, **"Go with your riders and get cleaned up. I will see you and the others tonight and we will discuss assignments for the new trainee dragonets who are coming in two days. I will tell you what I know of your riders' assignments and distribute each of you to your posts once I know what they are. until then, good work today; your fangs were sharper, your claws faster. Dismissed,"** she growled.

**"Sir,"** they placed their left paws forward and inclined their heads slightly in a dragon salute before walking off the field with their riders.

Once they were gone, Hunnter turned to Sharrd. Sharrd grinned, "General," she said teasingly.

"Private Darius," Hunnter replied with a grin.

"Am I ever going to get past that rank?"

Hunnter's grin broadened, "Not with that attitude of yours, you're not. Hey, Sharrd, it's been a while."

Sharrd nodded, "So it has."

Hunnter was a few inches taller than Sharrd, with dark brown, almost black, hair that she wore in a tight waist-length braid. Her calculating eyes were a deep green and seemed to conceal a great many things without revealing any. Her long sleeved shirt was light purple, and over it she wore a green camouflage jacket with several pockets. A mark that was undoubtedly her crew symbol adorned her jacket's upper left sleeve, and the golden badge stitched on the right at chest level completed the aura of authority surrounding the young woman.

"We _have_ been a bit busy, to be fair. Organizing a crew for race season isn't exactly a walk in the park."

"That's one way to put it," Sharrd said with a small laugh. "None of us even have time to walk in a park, with all that's going on. So, how are the ever-sharp fangs of the dragon?"

"Great, so far. Finally got everything back on track and running smoothly. Who're your friends?" Hunnter gestured to Artha and the others, who stood a few yards away and didn't seem to know what to do with themselves.

"Oh! Shoot! I completely forgot about them! Come on over here, guys!" Sharrd waved at them. When they had all assembled in a loose circle, Sharrd began the introductions, "Guys, I'd like you all to meet Hunnter Vale, General of the Dragon Fang, and my best friend since we were five."

"It's very nice to meet you," Hunnter said politely.

"And this is the Penn Racing Crew," Artha and the others briefly introduced themselves before Sharrd continued. "They're all from Dragon City and will be staying with us for the summer season. That big quake they had kind of killed the possibility of racing back there."

"I see," Hunnter inclined her head. "So what's with the sudden interest in foreign touring?"

Sharrd laughed awkwardly, "Well, you see, I accidentally ran in to Artha with Vulken earlier today"—she indicated Artha, who was standing behind her—"and ended up offering to show them around."

"I see," Hunnter reiterated, this time in a skeptical tone.

Sharrd waved a hand dismissively at the young General, "Oh, come on; he's perfectly fine. You seem to be under the impression that I attacked him or something."

"Well, knowing you…"

Sharrd crossed her arms, "Is that right, my dear Miss Vale?"

"She didn't actually hit me or anything," Artha interjected, feeling defensive.

Hunnter grinned, giving Sharrd a friendly punch on the shoulder, "Of course she didn't. It's not in her nature to be vicious."

"Yeah, she just likes to mess with me," Sharrd explained, shooting a sidelong look at Hunnter. "And I can _too_ be vicious," she added.

"_Sure _you can," Hunnter replied teasingly. "Anyway, I doubt that you're here for idle chat, so out with it already."

Sharrd nodded, "As usual, you are correct. I was telling our visitors about the crews just a bit ago when Artha remembered that he had a letter for you."

"Who from?"

"From Wulph,"

"Wulph," Hunnter repeated dazedly, her green eyes unreadable. "I haven't heard from him in years. I thought for sure he'd forgotten that he had a sister."

Artha pulled the letter out of his jacket pocket and held it out to her, "He heard that we were coming here and gave this to me just before we took off."

"Thank you," she said as she took it from him. The outside read: _To General Hunnter of the Dawn Scale City Dragon Fang Crew._

"So, what does it say" asked Sharrd

"I'm reading, hang on a second." She smoothed out the folds in the paper and began to scan the letter quickly. It read:

_Dear Hunnter, _

_I've missed you little sister and I'm sorry that I haven't contacted you for the past two years. As far as reasons for not speaking to your only sibling go, this one is pretty weak, but here it is anyway. Over the past couple years Dragon City has grown more chaotic and dangerous. I've had my hands full trying to run things since I took over leadership of my crew, and with dragons acting up lately it's been even more challenging. Not to mention all the strange characters we've had popping up, like the Dragon Booster and that creepy little pal of his, the Shadow Booster (as the purple freakshow's apparently calling himself). With their frequent power brawls things have been a mess, and between that, Word Paynn sticking his dirty nose into Down City Council business, and race season being in full swing, I haven't had time to send you any messages. I know that' still no excuse for not communicating with my family, so, I'm sorry._

_The earthquake only further complicated things. My crew and I are alright, our compound is closer to the edge of the city than most of the others and so we suffered minimal damage in comparison, though people are still shaken up by the whole event._

_While I was looking for some spare parts in the back of the compound to fix up a few things I found an old crate of my stuff, and inside of it I saw the picture I enclosed in this envelope. I hope you can forgive me and that this will right some of the wrong I've done you._

_Sincerely, _

_Your brother, General Wulph of the Dragon City Army of the Dragon crew_

Hunnter sighed and shook her head, grinning, "He's always so dramatic." She looked at Sharrd, "The way he makes it sound, it's like he abandoned me or something."

Sharrd took the letter when Hunnter held it out to her, scanning it briefly. She snorted, "You're right. I see he hasn't changed."

The Penn crew looked at the girls incredulously and Parm asked in a flabbergasted tone, "_Wulph?_ _Dramatic?_ He's the most unemotional person any of us know, aside from maybe a statue!"

Sharrd waved a hand dismissively, "Oh, that's just his tough-guy face. He's actually got quite a flare for the dramatic. I'm assuming he decided that he needed a more stoic image when he went to Dragon City. But believe it or not, he actually used to smile most of the time."

Hunnter plucked the paper out of her hands and smacked her with it on the shoulder, "Come on, Sharrd; leave my brother at least some of his credibility."

"Oops, I suppose you're right. What I meant to say is that he's really mean and scary on the inside." She looked at Hunnter, "That better?" This earned her another smack with the paper.

"Not in the slightest," Hunnter replied flatly.

"He mentioned a picture. What picture did he send?" Sharrd remarked, indicating the envelope.

"Open the envelope and find out," Kitt suggested.

"Alright, let me see," Hunnter reached into the envelope, pulling out a small photograph, "Here it is." It was a picture of a blond boy who looked about nine and a dark haired girl of about eight, each with one arm around the other's shoulders. In front of them stood two small purple pack class dragons; the one in front of the boy had dark inky purple markings and the other, who stood before the girl, had light blue arrow markings. All four were smiling, the dragons rather toothily.

"Is that you?" Lance asked as Hunnter held out the picture for them all to see.

"Yeah, me and Wulph. I remember the day this was taken, on Wulph's ninth birthday nearly ten years ago."

**_(AN: The official website says Wulph is 17 but I estimate that about a year and a half passes during the TV series, and about another half a year passes between the quake and the time Artha and everyone came to Dawn Scale, so by my timeline, Wulph is 19. Here are the ages of the major characters so far just so no one gets confused: Sharrd is 18, so are Hunnter, Artha, and Kitt, Parm is 19, and Lance is 12. I will list the new characters' ages as they get introduced to the story.) _**

"Wow, ten years ago," Parm mused. "Is that the last time you heard from him? If so that must have been very frustrating, to have waited so long, unsure of what had happed to your brother…" he trailed off as her realized that everyone was looking at him. "Sorry…"

"Does your insensitivity know any bounds, Professor?" Kitt snapped. She turned back to Hunnter, "I'm sorry about him. He tends to think out loud a lot, I'm not sure his brain realizes that thoughts are supposed to stay _inside_ your head," she loudly over her shoulder.

"I can hear you, you know," Parm retorted.

Lance rolled his eyes, "That's why she said it loudly, Parm."

"Oh."

Hunnter shook her head, "It's alright. As a matter of fact, that was not the last time I saw him. The last time I saw him in person was, I believe, five years ago. That was when he left for Dragon City. Racing and joining the Army of the Dragon had always been something he'd wanted to do. He was only fourteen at the time, but he sent me a message almost every week for the first three years he was there. We even talked over the video-phone several times.

"He always used to tell me about what he was up to and ask how I was. It was nice and I miss him a lot. It was about two years ago when things changed. He became the leader of the Army of the Dragon crew just a few months before everything started to go haywire: dragons acting strangely, crews getting meaner, more sabotages on the trackl; I assume you know the rest. But he got so busy that he didn't have time to talk to me. This letter," she held it up, "is the first thing I've gotten from him in a long time, and it's good to know he's alright."

"I've got a question," Artha cut in. "If Wulph left five years ago and the two of you knew him well; how long have you and Sharrd known each other?"

Hunnter snorted, "Since we were very little."

"We grew up together; Wulph was with us too," Sharrd added.

The two of them laughed, and Hunnter grinned, "Good times."

Sharrd raised an eyebrow, "Hunnter, I think you're forgetting someone."

"Who?"

"Tydal?"

"What about him?"

"I think you know."

"If I do, I've forgotten. He'd kind of slipped my mind since he's been gone for so long."

"Oh, _sure_ you did. We will talk about this later."

Hunnter was obviously as confused as the others, "Talk about what, Sharrd?"

"Never mind," Sharrd sighed irritably. "Sometimes you can be so dense," she muttered under her breath. "Anyway, now that that's out of the way; would you be interested in a little practice, Hunnter?"

"If you mean what I think you mean, then I accept your challenge."

"Are you two about to spar?" Parm asked curiously.

"We are indeed," Hunnter replied. "I'll grab the gear, Sharrd." A moment later, she returned from the gear shed with a blocking staff for Sharrd and two Green Tail Hammers for the dragons. She tossed the staff and one of the Tail Hammers to Sharrd and grinned, "Let's go, Westfield."

Once their dragons were geared up and in the ring, they began. Circling each other slowly, they waited for an opportunity to strike. The air was thick with near-tangible tension. There was a resounding clang from somewhere across the grounds, spurring them both into action. Lightning-fast, Onslaught jumped into the air, driving straight at Vulken with her claws outstretched. But Vulken was ready for her. He had been expecting that move and sprang back smoothly seconds before Onslaught would have struck him. He took a swipe at the purple dragon as she landed, just missing her left side as she dodged, countering with a kick and moving in closer to give Hunnter the opportunity to attack Sharrd.

Hunnter swung her staff high over head, bringing it down towards Sharrd with deadly accuracy. Sharrd leaned to the right, letting the blow land harmlessly on the side of her saddle. A metal clang rang out from the impact and Sharrd struck at Hunnter from the side. The General deftly parried the blow and the dragons backed off to circle each other again. The combatants watched each other, ready for anything and sure of themselves as only experienced fighters could be. The sun began to set, painting the field with and everything in it with deep shades of red and orange. The two pairs took one final running charge at each other, the staves of the riders colliding mid-stride as the dragons grappled with each other…

**End of Chapter 1 Welcome to Dawn Scale City**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter in the Dawn Scale City Chronicles….! **

**Man I sound like a TV announcer.**


	4. Chapter 4 Intro Time I

The Dawn Scale City Chronicles by The Lady of Dragons

Ok two things before I start: One – I would like to explain and apologize for the fact that in this chapter I will describe Dawn Scale as a sort of Utopian society, the reason for this is that I did not like how Dragon City was set as a sort of segregated society, with all the slums and street gangs, I thought that it was too dark and depressing in some part (don't get me wrong it worked wonderfully for some parts of the story and the plot line, I just didn't want that setting for my story) the other part of the reason is that if I made Dawn Scale like Dragon City it would leave too many things unexplained such as how the different crew manage to work together and what their roles were in the society, so I made it seem kinda perfect but, don't worry it's not going to stay that way for long! I also apologize for the lame/slow introduction chapters (including this one) I needed a starting point and didn't want this to be one of those stories that just started randomly and was just like 'Action! Action! Action! Romance! Action' with no basis so just bear with me, Ok? I promise things will get to the interesting stuff soon after we have some racing action, some other bits that will be important later and after I introduce some of the crews to Artha and the gang. Speaking of which, the other thing I wanted to explain was that if you're looking for a story where Artha is the main character then you are looking in the wrong place, he will remain in the story and Moordryd may even show up, and depending if people want him to stay he may continue to be present in later chapters. I have nothing against Artha in general, I just don't like him enough to make a whole story about him, so just for final clarification: Artha's role in my story will get smaller throughout the chapters, but he will remain in the story I assure you. After all someone has to get hit with blocking staves, *evil grin* besides I have some other, less painful (hopefully for his sake) ideas in mind for everybody's favorite egotistical Dragon Booster.

Chapter 4 – Intro Time!

Part 1 – Training

"Come on Stable Boy!" shouted Kitt as she and Wyldfyr ran alongside him and Beau "You're never gonna win a race at that speed!" she told him

"I'm trying here!" he retorted angrily

"Go Wyldfyr, Go!" urged Kitt. Wyldfyr heard her and sped up, easily outdistancing Beau and crossing the line first

"How did you beat me a third time!?" asked Artha, annoyed at being left in the dust yet again

"It's called practice Artha" chuckled Sharrd

"Oh no, not you too" he moaned

"Yes, me too" she told him "Listen, Kitt has been here all morning practicing and getting to know the track, you and Beau just woke up an hour and a half ago, and it's well past noon" she commented

"Excuse me for sleeping" he replied grumpily

"No one is saying there is anything wrong with sleeping, or even sleeping in. Stop being dramatic" said Parm walking over calculator in hand

"He's right" said Sharrd "Nothing wrong with sleeping in, I do it at every chance I get, I was only telling you why Kitt is moving faster than you two: she has had a chance to wake up and get used to the track. Go sit down for a few minutes and give yourselves a chance to wake up" she told him kindly, motioning for him and Beau to go sit on one of the nearby benches "HEY KITT!" she shouted "NEED A WATER BREAK?" Kitt nodded from the track "FOLLOW ME THEN. YOU CAN BOTH COOL OFF OVER HERE" Sharrd hollered back.

Kitt and Wyldfyr walked off the track and out of sight, leaving Artha alone with Beau, Parm having left to go find Lance. Artha thought back to the events of the past day and a half. It had grown dark by the time Sharrd and Hunnter had finished their inspirational match, which had ended in a tie, so he and the others had been about to head home, Hunnter had walked them to the gate when she had suddenly said "Tell you what, I'm going to let you guys have access to my training grounds until racing season starts up again, Not very many people will be here until that starts again, because everyone is so busy getting ready."

"That is really drac of you!" Kitt had said

"Yeah that would be amazing!" Artha had agreed

"No sweat, just consider it my thanks for bringing me the letter from my brother" she had told them, then she had stood straight and had given them a small salute "Be seeing you. I'll tell the guards to let you pass in and out as you please for now"

"Thank you, uh.. General" Parm had said fumbling for the right word, and had tried and failed to do a salute "Heheh…I'll work on that" he had mumbled

"Bye Hunnter, see you at the meeting" Sharrd had said

"Yes see you then" Hunnter had replied.

As they filed past the gates and into the alley beyond, Sharrd had turned to them and announced "I just had an idea: what if for the next several days I show you around and introduce you to the crews and help you get used to navigating the streets here? I could even help you with some training practice if you want" she had offered

"That would be great!" shouted Artha

"Well someone is certainly excited about spending time with Sharrd" Kitt whispered to Lance

"Yeah" Lance giggled

"You Dawn Scale City folks certainly know how to make people feel welcome" Parm had said

"Yeah you guys have been really nice" Lance had said "Too nice if you ask me, you must be robots or something! AHHHH RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! THE ROBOTS ARE INVADING!" he had shouted and then ran, around Fracshun running alongside him

"**Youngsters these days" **sighed Vulken

"**Just try to ignore him" **agreed Beau **"We all do"**

"Uhhhhhh….." Sharrd had said, looking at Lance as he ran around

"Never mind him" Parm had said "Though he does raise a good question: Why are people around here so nice? Back where we come from the only nice people were your family or really close friends. People had to fight to survive, so they don't have a lot of time to worry about being nice to anyone, sometimes even their dragons." he had told her

"The answer to that is almost the exact opposite of yours" Sharrd had said "Here we don't have different levels like Sun City, Mid City, or Down City/Lower City. The crews provide lots of jobs, so if people can't get work somewhere else they can get work from the crews. Since we have such a large city, large crew compounds and lots of businesses there is always something that needs to be done, such as cleaning dragon stables or caring for dragons, fixing broken pipes in warehouses, and all sorts of basic maintenance jobs. Some crews will even provide food for the very unfortunate. Even though we are such a large city in the physical sense of the city and the surrounding crew bases, there aren't too many people who live here, most of them are in the crews and the crews try to stay connected with the rest of the world often by holding tournaments and other competitions." Sharrd had explained

"Sounds like an ideal society" Kitt had remarked

"Alright" Sharrd had said, changing the subject "It's getting late and you need to get home. I'll come by in the morning and bring you back here for a bit. Then I can take you around the city and introduce you to people. Sound good?" she had asked

"Sounds great" they had all said.

Back in the present _**(AN: Sorry about the long flashback part, even when I was writing it I forgot that I was writing a flashback. I just wanted to try out the style and see how it worked in the story. If you think it was alright or you want to tell me not to do anymore flashbacks because I suck at them, please do so, but with much nicer words) **_Kitt had returned with Sharrd from getting water.

"Heads Up!" yelled Sharrd, as she lobbed a water bottle at him. He snapped out of his daze just before it hit him in the side.

"What did you do that for?!" he shouted

"Sorry, I thought you were paying attention" she apologized, walking over

"Well I am now" he grumbled

"How about one last lap around the track and then I will take you to see more of the city?" Sharrd suggested

"Sounds good to me" agreed Kitt "What about you Artha?" she asked

"Alright" he said. He and Kitt mounted their dragons and headed for the race track. Once they were at the starting line, Sharrd shouted "Ready, Set, GO!" and they took off.

"So where do you want to visit first Parm?" asked Sharrd, walking over to him.

"Well, I would like to see those gear forges you mentioned the Dragon's Forge have, but I get the feeling that we can't do that yet because we are new and they don't trust us." he said

"Well you are correct: they don't have a reason to trust you, but I think once you meet Gearr and he sees your love of tech, he might just let you see them" she told him

"Really!?" he exclaimed excitedly "That would be amazing!"

"Yes really. But for now let's focus on the possible. I will take you to meet the Dragon's Hammer crew" she said, and went to look for Lance.

She found him behind the gear shed, munching on some candy bars. Big surprise. At that point Artha and Kitt had finished their lap and were waiting with Parm.

"Alright time to meet some crews!" Sharrd said, smiling. She led them through the gates, nodding at the Dragon Fangs stationed there, and into the streets beyond.

"So where to first o all knowing one?" joked Artha, staring at Sharrd

"I'd be careful of your sarcasm with me slowpoke, else I might feel tempted to get you lost in the backstreets. It could be days before you found your way out without a map" Sharrd threatened teasingly. Artha gulped, remembering how he got lost easily, and shut his mouth.

"Wow, I've never met a person who was able to get Stable Mouth here to clam up so quick" Kitt said giggling at Artha's indignant expression.

"You just need the right motivation" Sharrd replied with a wink "And to answer your question Mr. Sarcasm, I am taking you to meet the Dragon's Hammer crew" she added over her shoulder

"They're the Green draconium crew right?" Lance asked

"Good memory" Sharrd said with a nod

"You learn to remember things, sometimes it just might save your butt when you get into the kinda situations we do-" Lance started to say

"Oh? And what kind of situations would those be?" Sharrd asked curiously

Lance started to answer, but was cut off by frantic waving from the other three. Fortunately Sharrd was in front of them, so she didn't see it.

"I'd rather not talk about that, I mean it's not really important" Lance blurted, trying to cover up for his mistake

"I gotcha" She replied nonchalantly "If it's private let it stay that way"

"**You wouldn't have said that if you had a bad feeling about them" **Vulken told her through their connection

"**I wouldn't be showing them around like this if I had a bad feeling about them V" **she replied with a small smileand a small laugh

"What's so funny?" asked Parm

"Oh nothing, just thinking of old times, you four remind me a little bit of a group of friends I had when I was a kid" she said, covering up her mental conversation.

"So how close are we?" Kitt asked

"Not very. It's a good way through the city to get there. Just be glad that the crews even have city compounds, otherwise you would have to trek all the way to the main compounds outside of town, and some of them are really far away" Sharrd told them

"So why didn't we start with one of the closer ones?" asked Artha, without sarcasm

"Because if we start with the ones that are further away then we can work our way back in, your place is in the center of town anyway so when we're done you will be closer to home" she explained

"This city is huge!" Kitt said, noticing that she couldn't see the outer wall even over the low buildings.

"Yeah it takes some getting used to" Sharrd said "Actually it's only a little bigger than Dragon City, it's just more spread out than your home town which is built up rather than out"

"You make a good point" Parm agreed

"So who was in charge of this crew again?" asked Artha

Sharrd gave a small laugh and Artha flushed "Myght and her dragon Powrhouse. She is a strong build gal with a mind to match, never get into a debate with her: you will lose, no question"

"Even you?" asked Lance

"Well sometimes, but that's a different story" Sharrd said laughing again "Myght loves to argue about anything and loves chucking snowballs at people during the winter. She and Terros, the Force of the Dragon crew leader, have huge snowball wars every year when it snows enough. I hope you guys stick around long enough to see that! They can go for hours on end without a break! The only other thing that gets Myght _that _excited is when Erra, Glyph Keepers crew leader, lets her look at the library. Myght loves books" Sharrd told them

"Sounds like fun!" Lance exclaimed

"Yeah!" Kitt agreed "Does anyone else get involved in the snowball wars or is it just those two?"

"No one else gets involved when Myght and Terros go at it, but the rest of us have our own mini wars. It's not really safe to be a bystander when they go at it, unless you're about 30ft away" Sharrd said

"Sounds hardcore" Parm said

"It is. The only reason the two haven't broken each other's necks is because they're both too thick skinned and as some put it they both have 'Titanium Bones'. I think that's true, but enough about snow, it's spring here!" she said "Any more questions? We have another 15 minutes to kill"

"Yeah" said Artha, Sharrd looked back at him "Are we gonna be able to get Parm to that library you keep talking about before he passes out with excitement?"

"I don't know" she replied, suddenly serious "You have to pass the test of the Glyph Keepers to even get to the library entrance. Then you have to be examined by the Century Guardians, the dragons who guard the doors. If they deem you worthy then you may enter. If not then you get kicked out of the building faster than you can say 'drac'. So I'm not sure if any of you can get in. They Century Guardians are very unpredictable. They've denied some people from my crew and the Order Code as well, and those are the two crews that are mostly allowed in there" she explained. They walked on in silence for a while. "We're getting close" Sharrd announced, pointing to something up ahead.

"Where?" asked Parm

"See that dark blue building a few blocks down? That's the main city compound of the Order Code crew" Sharrd said

"But you said we we're going to-" Parm started to say, but Sharrd cut him of

"I know what I said. The Dragon's Hammer compound is just a bit passed the Order Code compound" she told him with an annoyed glance.

"Right, sorry" Parm said sheepishly

"So what are the Order Code again?" Kitt asked "I don't remember what you told us yesterday" she explained

"Not a problem" Sharrd said, then explained "The Order Code crew is the blue draconium crew lead by Mai and her dragon Volttage"

"Hang on a moment" Artha interrupted "You keep saying the leader's dragon when you name the crew leader, why is that?"

"Because the dragon is the leader as well" She told him. At their startled expressions she explained further "The rider and the dragon work as a team, our dragons are our partners not just our mounts" she patted Vulken and he hummed in agreement "The leader and their dragon work as a team to lead the crew. Even though our dragons can't speak they can certainly understand and we can get an impression of what they are trying to tell us. If a leader needs to speak to a specific pair their dragon can tell the dragon of the pair to come and that dragon will bring their rider. Likewise our dragons can sense what is going on with other dragons, so that if say, someone got hurt and their dragon couldn't leave them, he or she could call for help and the other dragons would hear"

"That does make a lot of sense" Kitt said nodding

"Yes, a very sensible arrangement" Parm agreed "Back home we're really the only ones who listen to our dragons. It's not that everyone else is cruel to theirs, though some are, but most just don't listen to what their dragons tell them"

"A sad truth" Sharrd admitted

"Yeah" muttered Artha, looking down at Beau, who was thinking the same thing he was: communication was one of the things that caused the problems he tried to fix as the Dragon Booster. And Artha had a feeling that Sharrd knew more about that then she was letting on.

"Ah we're almost there!" Sharrd said

** End of Intro Time! Part 1.**

**Ok that took much longer than I thought it would to write. Sorry about the delays, I have been busy with other writing projects and stuff. **


	5. Chapter 5 Intro Time II

The Dawn Scale City Chronicles by The Lady of Dragons

Chapter 5- Intro Time!

Part 2 – Myght, Mai, and Erra

"Lady, gentlemen and dragons, allow me to welcome you to the city compound of the Dragon's Hammer crew!" Sharrd declared, sweeping her arms out dramatically. Before them stood a very impressive looking compound. The main building resembled a square for the most part, with a few additions here and there, and was surrounded by a thick dark green wall. Sharrd walked up to the front gates and banged loudly on the wall to the right, shouting "Craash! Open up!" A large section of the wall flickered and turned clear, revealing a teenage boy with red hair the color of rust. He was dressed in full green and had arms that looked like they could crunch a safe. He hit a button somewhere behind him and the wall slid in and to the side, allowing him to step out.

"Well isn't that convenient" Kitt remarked, observing the wall mechanism

The boy, who had to be Craash, crossed his arms and looked at Sharrd "What d' you want?" he asked rather moodily

"Oh drop the grumpy bridge troll act Craash" Sharrd declared, placing her hands on her hips "We're here to see Myght, and these folks are from outa town so try to at least smile"

Craash tipped back his head and laughed "Alright you got me Sharrd. Myght just got back from visiting Terros this morning so she should be around somewhere in the stables grooming PowrHouse" he turned to face the Penn crew "It's nice to meet you all. I'm Craash. I see you have a Bull class there yourself" he commented, noticing Cyrano "Would you like to meet mine?

"Um sure" Artha said

"Oi Titen get out here you big lug!" Craash hollered behind him. There was a thud followed by some scuffling and from the recess in the wall emerged a good sized Bull class dragon. He looked mostly like Cyrano but was a much darker green and had light green markings where Cyrano had that brownish color. He padded heavily over to Craash and gave Sharrd a friendly lick on the arm. She giggled and playfully told him to stop sliming up her good jacket. He obliged and rumbled a greeting to the dragons.

"I must still smell like Vulken's breakfast because he won't quit licking me either" Sharrd remarked

"Or maybe he just thinks that friends are tasty. He was always chewing on me when he was a dragonet, at least until he stopped teething" Craash said thoughtfully

"Maybe so" Sharrd agreed "We should go see Myght before she takes off again. Would you mind opening the gates for us?"

"No problem. Just give me a second" Craash ducked back into the wall and flicked a switch, causing the gates to open "Tell her I said hi"

"Will do and thanks for the info Craash, see you later" Sharrd called as they walked into the compound "So what do you think?" she asked

"It looks like home" Lance said quietly

"How so?" Sharrd inquired

"This place looks a lot like their dad's dragon stables back in Dragon City" Kitt explained

"I see" Sharrd acknowledged with a small nod. _'Great. Now they're home sick! Way to go Sharrd, way to go'_

The interior really did reminded Artha of his father's dragon stables back home: There were rooms and doors that ringed around the inner side of the wall. Some of those rooms were dragon stables and a few looked like gear sheds, the rest were a mystery. Beau used to have a stable just like that, before Moordryd and his Dragon Eyes had destroyed it along with most of everything else. And of course the quake had broken a lot of things too.

"So where's Myght?" Parm asked, finally breaking the uneasy silence

"She should be around the other side of the building" Sharrd pointed to the opposite side of the compound.

"Then let's go. I'd like to meet her" Kitt declared and Sharrd led the way.

They rounded the corner of the building and found their target. A tall heavy built girl, who had to be Myght, was holding the handle of a large dragon brush and was vigorously scrubbing the belly of her dragon, who was contentedly stretched out on her back, legs splayed, like a large green scaly dog. Myght was, as previously mentioned, tall and thick. She wore all green like most of her crew mates and her crew symbol was printed on the back of her long sleeved green jacket, which she wore with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She had dark green pants and combat style boots of a slightly lighter shade. Her shirt was green as well and a green and black hammer was clipped her belt. She had light brown hair pulled back in a short curly ponytail that barely went past her neck and her eyes were hazel but with more green than anything else. She looked up when they approached and smiled broadly.

"Hey Sharrd! Haven't seen you around in a while, and what riff raff have you dragged in with you this time?" she declared with a laugh

"Hi Myght, it's good to see you. You're looking as green as ever" Sharrd replied, clapping the other girl on the back.

"Hate to break it to ya Sharrd, but I'm a Dragon Hammer, I don't do much other than green" Myght replied sarcastically

"Did I mention your sarcasm is improving? You actually said hello before making a smart comment" Sharrd told her teasingly

"I'll have to amend that then won't I?" Myght laughed again "So who're your new pals? Finally get sick of the other three?"

"No, not yet anyway. This is the Penn racing crew from Dragon City" Sharrd explained "Go ahead and introduce yourselves, she doesn't bite, not that I'm aware of anyway"

_**(AN: Fast forward through boring stuff) **_

"It's nice to meet you all" Myght declared "I'm Myght Vanguard _**(AN: Myght is 18)**_ and this is PowrHouse" PowrHouse was dark green and had splotches of lighter green dotted all over her body. Her underside was tan and she had dark grey stripes along her legs and sides. She rolled over and blinked a large black eye at them. She was about the same size as Phistus's dragon Brutaris. All in all the pair looked a lot like Phistus and Brutaris, which brought forth more homesickness.

"**Hello Vulken, how've you been?"** PowrHouse rumbled

"**Great, thanks for asking"** Vulken replied. The two dragons lowered their heads and head-butted each other with a solid thump.

"**Hey hey, take it easy guys"** Beau interjected **"No need to fight"**

"**What're you talking about?"** PowrHouse asked **"Don't the Bull class dragons in Dragon City greet their kin properly?"**

"**Not those of the other classes"** Wyldfyr replied curtly

"**Shameful"** PowrHouse said sadly **"The day when dragons of different classes don't know how to show respect is the day that we are all brought to shame" **

"**That was oddly deep for you PowrHouse"** Vulken remarked

"**Just feeling a bit introspective lately"** she replied **"But forget about it, I haven't greeted the rest of you!"** she proceeded to knock heads with Beau and Wyldfyr and when it was Cyrano's turn he recoiled with a cry of **"OW!"** PowrHouse was gentile with Fracshun succeeded in not sending the little Energy class flying.

Speaking of Brutaris, Artha suddenly remembered something Sharrd had mentioned the day before about Myght. "Hey Myght, Sharrd said you were related to Phistus, is that true?" he asked

"You bet your saddles I am" Myght replied "How is old hard head anyway?"

"You're one to talk about hard heads" Sharrd commented causally

"So are you" Myght countered

"Oh put a sock in it Larry" Sharrd retorted

"Larry?" asked Lance

"It's a long story" Sharrd told him

Myght laughed "Yes and a strange on at that"

"Moving on" Kitt said changing the subject "Phistus is fine. He rules the Down City council and his crew with an iron fist"

"So my single minded cousin finally did something useful with his life" Myght remarked

"What do you mean finally?" Parm asked

"He always had trouble picking a direction to go in" Myght explained "He could never decide what to do and where he should go next. If you told him to do something he'd do it and he'd to it but once he finished it was like he had no motivation to do anything for himself. Apparently some time in Down City has cured his lack of initiative"

"I'd say it's done more than that" Kitt said "He's the king of initiative"

"More power to him then" Myght shrugged "So is that all?"

"Pretty much" Sharrd replied "I just wanted to introduce you"

"Cool. So who's your next stop?" Myght asked

"I believe it's Mai" Sharrd said after a moment of thought

"You're outa luck in that department" Myght informed her regretfully "She left yesterday afternoon for the initiation at the main compound"

"Drat! I forgot about that!" Sharrd exclaimed

"Initiation for what exactly?" Lance asked

"Initiation of new members in to the crew" Myght told him

"Yep" Sharrd nodded "Each crew has a sort of ceremony or tradition to initiate its new members"

"Well each crew except for yours" Myght corrected her

"True. Our ceremony is when the hatchlings choose their partners, but it's not really the same, oh never mind, that's not important anyway"

"Ok then if Mai's not here, who do we visit next?" Kitt asked

"Then next closest compound is the Glyph Keepers" Myght suggested "I'm pretty sure Erra's around today"

"Good idea, we may not get another chance to see her until the races start" Sharrd agreed

"Alright, well it was nice meeting you" Myght said as they walked away

"Bye" Sharrd called over her shoulder

They exited the compound and began to head back up the streets, passing the nearly deserted dark blue compound of the Order Code on the way.

"Speaking of initiations, was that trek thing Hunnter mentioned related to that?" Parm asked

"Very observant Parm" Sharrd remarked "The young Dragon Fangs go on a trip out into the wilderness. It's like extreme camping and survival skill training. When they come back they get to officially join the crew"

"Sounds difficult but fun at the same time" Kitt remarked. Time ticked by slowly as the rode in silence.

Finally Lance asked "Why did you call her Larry?"

"Well…" Sharrd began. Ten minutes of explaining later… "And that's why I call her Larry"

"That was certainly interesting" Parm said

"How does something that strange even happen?" Artha wondered

"In Dawn Scale, anything is possible, also Myght has the most interesting sense of humor. She has lots of strange nicknames, and she gave me one as well" Sharrd replied

"Oh really?" Artha asked "What's the story behind yours?"

"Well it all started in first period art class four years ago…" Sharrd began again "…and that's where my nickname comes from"

"Ok it's official. You are the most inventive person I know" Kitt declared

_**(AN: Muwahahaha! You shall never know the story behind Larry or Sharrd's nickname!" **_

"Look up ahead!" Sharrd pointed to a dull orange structure several blocks away "That's the Glyph Keeper's compound"

"They're the psychotic crew that's not psychotic right?" Lance asked

"You could say that" Sharrd said "Come on, let's go" she took off down the street and they followed. When they arrived at the gates Sharrd waved to the sentry posted there who nodded and let them in without further prompting.

They dismounted and entered a rather somber looking hallway. Sharrd led them to a large door half way down. She opened the door slowly and walked in. The others followed her looking around curiously. The room was decent sized, not huge and not tiny, but somewhere in between, and was filled with bookshelves overflowing with books. Orange clad figures occupied the book covered tables and benches that were placed around the room while their dragons lounged comfortably on the floor beside them, some even reading books of their own. Sharrd walked over to the nearest table and the girl seated there looked up at her. She had short red-brown hair that was drawn back into an intricate braid and hazel eyes that sparkled with intelligence. She wore an orange elbow length shirt that fell past her waist, pants of the same color and light brown boots. It was impossible to determine her height due to the fact that she was sitting.

"Hello Sharrd, what brings you here today and who are your companions?" the woman asked politely. He voice was soft and reminded one of pages turning.

"Hello Legnd" Sharrd replied "This is the Penn racing crew from Dragon City. They're staying here for race season because of the quake and I'm introducing them to the crews and showing them around the city. I was looking for Erra; do you happen to know where she is?"

"I'm afraid I don't, but Foursight may. She was helping Erra with an important project, I don't know much other than that. If you want to meet any of the other elites I know where most of them are" Legnd offered

"That sounds like a good idea, but before we go would you like to introduce yourself?" Sharrd asked

"Of course, how rude of me" Legnd stood and gave a small bow to Artha and the others "As you may have gathered I am Legnd. I am one of Lady Erra's six elites, and this is my partner Emblum" Emblum rumbled a greeting. Artha and his friends introduced themselves for what seemed like the third time that day and after Legnd told Sharrd where her counterparts were they left the library.

"Was that famous library?" Parm asked disappointedly

"No. That was one of many smaller libraries throughout the compound" Sharrd told him

"Ah that explains it" Parm nodded. They followed Sharrd to several different locations to meet with the rest of the elites. Pryme and Terminus were cataloging some old scrolls in the lower levels. Pryme was Erra's second in command and had blue eyes, red brown hair and looked a bit like Legnd, to which he explained that they were third cousins or some such relation. His dragon was male and his name was Myllennium. Terminus was blonde with pale green eyes and skin that was surprisingly tanned for someone who spent so much time in a library. His dragon was female and her name was Cypher. Black haired, orange/brown eyed Ruune and her male dragon Scrypt were outside polishing some gear. They were unable to locate the other two however and Sharrd shrugged it off saying that they would meet them at the races. _**(AN: Ages are as follows: Pryme is 18, Terminus is 17, Ruune is 19, and Legnd is 18. The unknown elite is Cycos and he is 17)**_ They were just about to leave when an orange clad Glyph Keeper rode up to them on her dragon. She dismounted in a flurry of light brown hair and brownish-blue eyes.

"Oh thank goodness I caught you before you left" she gave relieved sigh

"Where have you been Foursight?" Sharrd asked the older woman

"With Erra, working on a delicate restoration project" Foursight replied _**(AN: Foursight is 20, the oldest elite, and actually older than Erra who is 19, and her dragon's name is Faytal and is female) **_"We just finished when she heard you had come for a visit. She asked me to find you"

"You found us just in time then" Sharrd declared "Lead the way" Foursight nodded and turned around, beckoning for them to follow her.

She led them back inside the compound and up some flights of stairs. They stopped at a door with the Glyph Keepers symbol on it. Foursight knocked and pushed open the door. It looked like an office or study. Three bookshelves that were filled with books lined the walls and several lamps gave off a warm yellow light, giving it a comfortable feel. There was a long worktable along the back wall covered with paintbrushes, paints, pens, pencils, erasers and just about every other art tool imaginable. Sketchbooks and loose sheets of paper were piled at one end of the table and a tall woman stood in front of it with her back turned to them. She was taller than Sharrd by several inches and her posture was straight but elegant. She wore light orange pants, a pale pink shirt, and a thin sort of over robe that looked a bit priest like, along with flat bottomed black boots. She turned and they were able to see her face. She had a kind face with dark brown eyes and thin dark eyebrows. Her hair was black and long, she wore it pined up in a bun with a large clip and two long braids framed her face. Her fingers were long and delicate and she looked Asian _**(AN: Don't take that the wrong way, I am not being racist or prejudice in any way shape or form. If I describe a character by comparing them to a specific culture or people I do not mean anything negative in doing so, I am only trying to give you a better description of them, that is all) **_

"Ah, thank you Foursight, I appreciate you finding them for me" Erra said with a kind smile

"Not a problem at all, Erra" Foursight nodded and left the room

"Hello Sharrd, Artha, Kitt, Parm, Lance" Erra greeted them with another smile

"How did you know our names?" Kitt asked in awe

"I know many things" Erra said mysteriously, then her voice became teasing "I also happen know Sharrd"

Everyone laughed and Sharrd smiled. A dragon stirred in the corner, roused by the noise, and yawned expansively, sharp white teeth flashing. Erra glanced over and the dragon walked sleepily over to her.

"Good afternoon Eeyon" Sharrd said respectfully to the large Control class.

"**Good afternoon Sharrd, Vulken, visitors"** Eeyon rumbled. The other dragons answered and began to speak amongst themselves.

"So you're Erra" Lance said

"That's me, Erra Centuren" Erra replied

"Um excuse me, uh Miss Centuren, but would it be possible to maybe um see the library?" Parm asked timidly

"Parm here is a real egg head" Artha explained "When Sharrd mentioned the library he almost passed out with delight"

"It is good to know that knowledge is appreciated" Erra said to Parm "I would be glad to take you to the Century Guardians, but not today. With race season fast approaching and the restoration projects underway I am quite busy and will probably continue to be for a while. But I promise that I will take you our main compound when I have the chance, and you can just call me Erra, no need for formalities"

"Oh thank you! This is wonderful!" Parm exclaimed

"Well someone's certainly happy" Sharrd remarked crossing her arms thoughtfully "Well thanks for talking with us Erra; I know you're busy with restorations and with race season coming so soon"

"Oh don't mention it. Now I believe you have another few stops for today, you better hurry if you want to make it to the next few before it gets too late" Erra said

"You're absolutely right. Come on tourists let's go!" Sharrd declared, marching out of the room. The others followed her but as Artha was about to go Erra stopped him.

"I have something that will interest you greatly, Artha Penn" she told him seriously "I think it will help you find yourself" she went to one of the bookshelves and pressed a panel of the thick wood. It slid open revealing two aged leather bound books, one thick one thin. She handed them to him "Be sure to return the thick one to me when you are finished with it. The other is yours to keep"

"Thank you but what-" he began

"Read them and you will understand" Erra told him firmly "The thin one is the key to all your self-doubt. Now go, catch up with your friends" she pushed him out the door and closed it with a resounding thud.

Artha ran after his friends, who hadn't even noticed he was gone. Beau gave him a strange look. Artha just shrugged and shoved the books into his saddle bag. He would worry about them and Erra's cryptic remarks later.

**End of Intro Time – Part 2**

**Now what do you suppose those books were? Hehheheh…you shall see. **


	6. Chapter 6 Intro Time III

The Dawn Scale City Chronicles by The Lady of Dragons

Chapter 2 – Intro Time!

Part 3 – Vortx, Rumma and Shayde

"Alright people," Sharrd declared as they hit the streets again "next up is Vortx. Does anyone remember which crew she leads?"

"She's the leader of the Storm Riders, right?" Lance asked.

"Bingo." Sharrd flashed him a smile.

"And they're the white draconium crew, right?"

"Right again Lance. Vortx is a very good friend of mine."

"I get the feeling that all of the crew leaders are very good friends of yours." Parm remarked.

"Yes, well I suppose they are." Sharrd laughed "All except for Shayde, but she's a whole other story."

"Vortx and Erra are very different but the two of them are great friends, and have been for as long as anyone can remember. I should warn you though, Vortx is a bit of a loose cannon. She's the queen of the daredevils so it comes with the title, but she's a little goofy. Good luck getting a serious conversation out of her. It is part of her charm though. She manages to find something funny to say for just about everything, which keeps life interesting."

"How does the crew function with someone like that leading them?" Artha inquired. He was used to the stubborn, ruthless, iron willed crew leaders, not these friendly, open minded people.

"Well it helps that they're almost all as crazy and bold as she is. Besides, I said she was crazy, not stupid."

"You know Vortx sounds a lot like Chute." Kitt remarked "Are they related like Myght and Phistus?"

"Actually, no. The only connection between Vortx and Dragon City is that, Soarn, founder of the Storm Riders once traveled to Dragon City and he started up the Vortex relay event that you still have now."

"No kidding?" Artha remarked "Kitt and I raced in that event in the academy competition."

"No way. Did you win?" Sharrd inquired.

"Yes, but there was this whole issue with someone framing us for cheating, and I got thrown in jail with Phistus who had also been framed, Artha and Chute were on the run and there were Wraith Dragons involved." Kitt explained.

"Sounds like a nightmare." Sharrd said thoughtfully.

"Yeah it was." Artha agreed "But on the other hand, Chute and I did get to hang upside down while evading the police."

"Then Beau got painted to look like a Sky class." Lance added

"I'm not even gonna ask." Sharrd replied shaking her head.

"That's a wise decision." Parm told her.

They arrived at the compound and Sharrd knocked on the gate and a short introduction began with the Storm Rider on duty. She was actually on the wall as well. A young girl with brownish-blonde hair and brown eyes, like most members of her crew she wore a white racing jumpsuit and boots of a similar color. When she noticed they were there she hopped down from her perch followed by her dragon.

"Hey there, Airren. Is your sis around? I've got some new faces for her."

"Hey there yourself Sharrd," the girl, who had to be Airren, replied "Vortx should be around the archery range. I think she was showing some newbies how to make archery interesting."

"Ah. You guys will want to see this." Sharrd said with a grin "Archery is one of her favorites."

"To your left Sharrd!" Airren called as they walked inside.

"Thanks!" Sharrd called back "In case you hadn't gathered that was Airren, Vortx's little sister. Her dragon's name is Turbinne."

_'Is everyone here related to someone else?'_ Artha thought to himself. _'Seriously, we've run into everyone and their sister.'_

"Here we are. Look, there's Vortx now." Sharrd pointed to another white clad figure. Vortx was hanging upside down from a rafter beam by her legs, was holding a colorful bow and had an arrow clenched in her teeth.

"What is she doing?!" Parm exclaimed.

"Having fun." Sharrd replied calmly.

Vortx grinned and knocked her arrow. She let it fly, hitting the target over twenty feet away dead center. "And that's how to make archery more exciting." She declared with a laugh. She swung herself back and forth a few times, then let go, landing in her dragon's saddle. She got out of the saddle and lay on her back over the edge of her dragon's back, still upside down. She waved cheerily to Sharrd when she noticed the brunet "Hi Sharrd! Isn't being upside down the best!?" **_(AN: Vortx is 18)_**

"So that's your theme of the day is it?" Sharrd asked coming to stand in front of her.

"Yep." Vortx replied, still smiling.

"Well you may have to get right-side-up to greet our visitors."

"Oooo! New people at last! It was getting SOOOO boring around here!" Vortx swung herself up and around, landing on her feet in front of Sharrd.

"That's what you call boring?" Kitt asked in surprise.

"Haha! You're funny!" Vortex replied laughing childishly again "Yep, that was pretty boring, though I still had fun doing it. Ho hum, what a sad life I have. Not!" She giggled "So who are you people and where do you come from?"

"I'm Kitt and this is my dragon Wyldfyr. We're from Dragon City"

"Ooooo! That far north?" Vortx asked curiously.

"Vortx, the mountains are to the north." Sharrd corrected her with an amused smile.

"Oh that's right! I forgot, Dragon City is to the West! Duh!" Vortx grinned and lightly face palmed.

"I'm beginning to see what Sharrd meat when she said you find something funny in everything." Parm remarked.

"Sharrd said that about me?" Vortx asked in wonder. "Well she's right. Life is like a fluffy Bunnyzard, **_(AN: crossing of a bunny and a lizard)_** it's always soft and scaly."

"That makes absolutely no sense." Sharrd told her with a raised eyebrow.

"Doesn't it just?" Vortx replied. They both laughed "So who are the rest of you people and what are you doin' in mah city?" Vortx demanded mockingly.

"I'm Artha and this is Beau."

"I'm Artha's little brother Lance and this is Fracshun."

"I'm Parmon, but please call me Parm, and this is Cyrano."

"And that concludes the introductions for the eighth time today." Sharrd said with a half smile.

"Oh really? You visited eight of the others?"

"No it was an exaggeration. We visited Hunnter yesterday, Myght and Erra today and had several introductions along the way, so on second thought, it really has been about eight." Sharrd replied, counting off on her fingers.

"So are you being a tour guide? Do you have a little hat and uniform?" Vortx asked jovially.

"No, but thanks for that image." Sharrd told her sarcastically.

"Hats and uniforms are cute!" Vortx replied happily.

"You're nuts." Sharrd informed her, grinning.

"I know." Vortx laughed "Isn't life so wonderfully demented?"

The white dragon behind her stood up and walked over to the other dragons.** "Hi there! I'm Hurricayn! You guys are from Dragon City right? Do they have a lot of cliffs there?"**

**"Cliffs? No." **Beau replied**.**

**"WHAT!? NO CLIFFS!?" **Hurricayn exclaimed, horrified** "How is a Sky class in your city supposed to enjoy themselves if there are no cliffs to jump off of?" **

**"Um they do just fine with races." **Fracshun replied.

**"Calm down Hurricayn, not every Sky class has had access to the same experiences as you and the others here, they don't know what they're missing." **Vulken assured her.

**"What a horrible fate, to not know the joy of leaping off a towering cliff, with the wind rushing over your scales and the ground hurtling up at you like a rocket." **Hurricayn said sadly.

**"Yeah, a tragedy in the extreme." **Wyldfyr snorted.

**"So you do understand!" **Hurricayn exclaimed happily.

"Alright Vortx, we've gotta go meet Rumma next. See you in a few days." Sharrd said and they all headed out.

Vortx waved energetically "Try not to let the sky squid mince the sugarcane on the way out!" she called after them.

"She's insane!" Parm exclaimed.

"Quite possibly." Sharrd agreed with a small grin "But then, who's to say we aren't all just as mad as she is?"

"Your city is more chaotic than ours could ever be, it's just happy chaos." Kitt muttered.

"Now you're catching on." Sharrd said with a mischievous smile.

"And here I was hoping things would make sense around here." Artha sighed.

"Now what fun would that be?" Sharrd teased.

"Where are we going now?" Lance interjected.

"To the radio broadcasting station." Sharrd replied.

"Why are we going there? I thought we were going to meet the next crew leader." Parm asked.

"We are. Rumma's the leader of the Dragon's Whisper, the turquoise draconium crew. They're in charge of the blogs, news sites, news papers, magazines, radio programs and just about anything else that has to do with communication and information around here. There's almost nothing they don't know, but Rumma knows that sometimes people get a little too carried away trying to dig up information so she keeps a tight grip on things. She spends a lot of time in the radio station and that's where she is today. As I mentioned before she's a pop star and loves music. So what better place to be than the center itself."

"Oh I get it." Kitt nodded.

"Yes now let's go." Sharrd suggested and they all took off down the street. Moments later they arrived at a tall turquoise building downtown. As they neared the doors a man dressed in full grey with a matching hood stormed out and glared at them as he walked by.

Lance blinked confusedly. "What was that about?"

Sharrd frowned. "That was a Broken Dragon. Excuse me for a moment please. I'll be right back." She dismounted and took off after the grey clad man. She caught up with him and Artha watched with great interest as she began to speak rapidly to him. He replied and gestured with his hands. She crossed her arms and said something unintelligible. Artha strained his ears to make out what they were saying.

"….tjsoej weiya nolotha ekas loso nekse ehfoahe." Sharrd spoke so fast he couldn't tell if she was speaking in another language or if her speed slurred the words.

"Loke noet ajejdn ehnkrn weiya toso beisnk Bollt, notewhei lethos, Sharrd." The man said pointedly.

Sharrd growled "Keteck, ekres keteck." The man inclined his head stiffly to her and walked away. She headed back to Artha and the others, pretending that nothing had happened.

"What was that?" Artha asked.

"Oh pay it no mind, it's just someone I need to have a talk with later." She said dismissively "Now come on we've got a pop princess to meet." She waved them after her and walked in.

They all entered the large elevator and went up a few floors before they got off. It appeared that a band was just finishing a song. A woman dressed in an eye-popping shade of turquoise with hair in two shades of bright pink stood in front of a microphone. Her hair was held back by a turquoise headband and pinned in a spiral bun. Her eyes were amber brown. She seemed to be the main singer and it wasn't hard to guess why.

"…got the pedal to the metal and I'm goin' higher! Don't come a step closer cause' I'm a ragin' fire!"

An announcer sat in a chair by a control panel and when the music stopped she flipped a switch and began to speak "Alright ladies and gents that was Mach 9 with their newest hit: _Here I come_. We've got a special treat for all of you listening today because the band has agreed to do a short interview with us. Stay tuned for that right after Flash-Flood with _Over the Edge_ and a little later we'll have some new music from Code Breakers. I'm DJ Kiya and this is DSC 304.3." She flipped the switch off and hit a few buttons causing music to start playing.

The woman in turquoise took a deep breath and smiled widely at her companions "Wonderful job my dears. Every key was pitch perfect down to the last note! You'd be hard pressed to find a group of people more in-tune with each other and their music." She walked out of the booth and a Sonic class dragon rose from where he lay to greet her. "What did you think Upror?" She asked the dragon. He nuzzled her affectionately and snorted. She laughed and gave him a good scratch under the chin.

He was about average size for a Sonic class and had pink highlights on his head spines and his feet and along his tail. His main color was a bright shade of turquoise that matched the woman's clothes, or perhaps it was the other way around, and that was contrasted by some darker streaks on his chest and belly.

Sharrd knocked on the door and the woman looked up. "Oh hello there hun. What brings you here?" She walked over and opened the glass door, followed by her dragon, and stepped out.

Sharrd smiled "Hi Rumma. If you have a minute I'll be happy to explain the reason for my visit."

"Sure. We've got about two minutes until the interview start so I've got a little time. I assume your visit has something to do with the Penn crew here." She smiled kindly at Artha and his friends. **_(AN: Rumma is 19) _**

"Why does it not surprise me that you already know who they are?" Sharrd said with a half smile.

"Because, darlin', I know a little bit of everything." Rumma replied with a wink.

"You certainly do." Sharrd agreed shaking her head. "Anyway guys, this is Rumma, if you haven't already gathered."

"Howdy." Rumma gave a small wave. She had a southern accent that was only apparent after hearing her speak a few times. "Welcome to the city."

"Um thanks." Artha said hesitantly. He found it more than a bit strange that she already knew who he and his friends were.

Parm looked at Rumma thoughtfully "By any chance was your band the one who played _Record Breaker_?"

"As a matter of fact yes. Our drummer is the one who wrote it. He writes all our songs." Rumma replied.

"I thought you looked familiar!" Parm exclaimed. "I've heard some of your music on the radio back home when I have it on while I'm working. It's very catchy."

"Is that what I saw you dancing to a few months back?" Lance snickered.

"W-what are you talking about?!" Parm declared crossing his arms.

Kitt sighed. "Just ignore those two. They do this all the time."

"Don't worry about it hun. I get much worse on a daily basis back at the compound. Some people are like little children." Rumma replied.

"If you think that's bad you should try growing up with Coal and Hunnter in the same house." Sharrd said flatly.

"Oooh good point." Rumma agreed.

One of the other band members spotted her and tapped on the glass, "We're on in ten Rumma."

"Coming" she replied "Sorry I have to go. It was lovely meeting you all."

"Did he mean ten minutes?" Lance asked.

"No, ten seconds. I've gotta run, see ya!" Rumma called as she hurried through the door.

"I guess that's that then." Kitt said.

"Looks like it." Sharrd shrugged "Ok. Now we go meet Shayde." She glanced and her wrist com. "Man it's getting late. I think Shayde will have to be it for now. We still have six more compounds to see and I don't think we can make them all today. Come on let's go." They followed her out of the building and back towards the center of the city. Before long they arrived at a building that was completely black. Even the windows were tinted.

"Why the tinted windows?" Artha asked.

"The Dragon's Shadows like their darkness." Sharrd replied.

"But doesn't it get hot in there during the summer?" Parm asked.

"Not really, they keep the AC cranked pretty high." After a short conversation with the black clad guard they went in.

The main courtyard was enclosed by a dome and illuminated by a soft white-blue light from crystals embedded in the walls and support pillars. A woman with waist-length white hair and grey eyes sat on a bench reading from a dark brown leather book. She was dressed in full black aside from the shoulders of her jacket which were a deep inky indigo. He boots had similar markings and a sort of spiral vortex on them which appeared to be her crew symbol.

She did not look up from her book as they approached. "Hello Sharrd." Her voice had an almost reptilian hiss to it and sent chills down Artha's spine for two reasons. The first was that it was creepy and the second was that it reminded him all too much of Moordryd Paynn. **_(AN: Shayde is 19)_**

"So you deign to speak with me today, I'm honored."

"Dispense with your word games and explain your purpose here."

"I wanted to introduce you to our newest racing crew. They've come from Dragon City to compete."

"These people?" The woman laughed mockingly "What a silly notion that they could compete with any of us."

"Well now that you've gotten your smart comments out of the way, care to inform our visitors of who you are?"

The woman eyed them contemptuously. "If that is what is required to get you to vacate the premises." She stood, displaying the full extent of her stature, and looked down at them, again reminding Artha of Moordryd "I am Shayde Moranna, leader of the Dragon's Shadow crew." She noticed Artha's scrutiny of her and her eyes narrowed "You. I remind you of someone do I not? You have no doubt run into that disdainful cousin of mine and of course my homicidal uncle."

"And who would they be?" Kitt asked, one eyebrow raised. She didn't like Shayde any more than Artha did.

"My uncle is Word Paynn and my cousin…"

"… is Moordryd." Artha finished.

"Ah. So you do have a brain. I can see that you have no love for my cousin, a trait we both share. At least you have some common sense. Though I hear he's been harassed by that Dragon Booster of late. If I was hero boy I'd be careful. As thick-headed and slow-witted as old Moordryd can be, he's one to hold a grudge and plan vengeance, big vengeance."

Sharrd's face was unreadable. "I'm sure that the Dragon Booster would appreciate your advice. We'll leave you be now."

"Good." Shayde sat and returned to her book completely ignoring their existence.

"Well she certainly seemed friendly." Parm remarked as they walked out of the gates.

"Yes. I do apologize for that. Shayde's strength doesn't lie in social skills, but she's precocious beyond her years and her intuition is unnaturally accurate."

"What does pre-preco-pre, whatever that word was mean?" Lance asked.

"It means intelligent or gifted." Sharrd explained "You ever hear of ESP? Extra Sensory Perception?"

"If you mean people who are supposed to be psychic, then yes and it's all nonsense." Parm said flatly.

"I don't necessarily believe in psychics, but I do believe that there are people who have better intuition than the rest of us. Shayde is one of those people. Did you see how she knew that she reminded Artha of someone just by the way he was looking at her? She does things like that all the time. I would guess that her little mention of Moordryd's revenge was a hint to the Dragon Booster, wherever he may be." Behind her the Penn crew all glanced at each other. Sharrd seemed to know more about them than she was willing to share. "So what was your address again?" Parm gave it to her and she led them down a side street.

They walked the rest of the way to the house in silence with Sharrd pointing out the occasional place of interest. They parted ways at the front gate and Sharrd promised to meet them there the following morning at 9:30.

** End of Intro time Part 3**

**Alright I know that some of you may be getting a little bored with these slow intro chapters, and I am sorry for that but I promise that it will pick up, I have many more exciting chapters planned and written once I get through the intros, things will get much more active and much more dangerous. Just a few more people left and then some extremely brief race descriptions and the real story will be revealed.**


	7. Chapter 7 Intro Time IV

The Dawn Scale City Chronicles by The Lady of Dragons

Chapter 2 – Intro Time!

Part 4- Terros, Bollt, and Gearr

As promised Sharrd came by at 9:30 the next morning. When she knocked on the door a rather groggy looking Parm answered and asked if she would like to come in for a bit while the others were getting up.

"I'd love to" she replied politely and followed him into the kitchen. Kitt was up and reading some mail from home at the table. The Penn brothers were nowhere to be found.

"The boys are still upstairs and probably asleep" Kitt explained when Sharrd asked

"Ah. I suppose it is rather early. I only just got up twenty minutes ago myself, as I mentioned before I'm not a morning person"

"Yes. Kitt and myself are usually the first ones up" Parm said with a yawn "I was up late reading about Dawn Scale. Your city has a very riveting history and the current structure of your society is fascinating"

"Um thanks, I think" Sharrd replied

"His mom is a history professor and he gets the mindset from her" Kitt added

"Now I get it" Sharrd nodded

"So Sharrd what about your parents? What are they like?" Parm asked

Sharrd's face became noticeably mournful and she looked at Vulken, who was lying on the floor beside her "I don't really know what my parents were like because I've never met them. I don't know who they are, what they look like, or even if they're still alive"

"I'm sorry I asked" Parm said quietly "I didn't know…"

"It's alright. It was bound to come up sooner or later" Sharrd shrugged it off "My life isn't all sad. I grew up with my friends, who are more like my siblings than anything. They're my family now"

"Who are your friends?" Kitt asked, eager to shift the conversation to a more positive topic.

"Well you've already met Hunnter, who is my honorary sister. She was the only other girl in the house"

"So when you said you grew up with your friends you really meant you grew up with them, as in, in the same house" Parm remarked

"Bingo. Along with Hunnter I grew up with Coal and Tydal, who are, if you remember from that lecture I gave you yesterday, two of the current crew leaders. They haven't changed much since they were kids and they're still my best friends. Before Wulph lived in Dragon City he grew up here with Hunnter and the rest of us. He was kind of a big brother to us all until when he was fourteen he decided he wanted to leave"

"Did you have any adults around at all?" Kitt asked

"Well sort of. Before I met Hunnter and Wulph they lived with their parents at a small apartment building on the edge of town. One day there was an earthquake and while getting their kids to safety Hunnter and Wulph's parents were killed by falling debris when the building collapsed. They came to live with me where I was staying in an old run down house in the mostly abandoned part of the city. And not too long after that Tydal and Coal came to live with us. Coal had been living with his grandparents after his parents met with an unknown accident and Tydal had been with his aunt Coasta ever since his parents died in an outbreak of the sweating fever when he was four. They both lived in a mixed crew lodging downtown and there was a fire that destroyed the building. Neither of their guardians could keep the boys in their current situation because they had nowhere to live so they sent them to us and they ended up staying. Tydal's aunt checked in on us frequently so it wasn't like we were on our own"

"My goodness. You four seem to have been through Hades and back" Parm muttered in astonishment

"And what a trip it was growing up with those three" Sharrd said, smiling

"Is that what you meant yesterday when you told Rumma that growing up with Hunnter and Coal was stressful?" Kitt asked

"Yes. Coal was, and still is for that matter, a notorious prankster. Though he knows when to stop now. When we were kids he did all sorts of little things to Hunnter, like hide her stuff, steal her jacket, which she is very possessive of, set up small booby traps, and as a result he got banged over the head more than once"

"This Coal guy sounds interesting. I can't wait to meet him" Artha mumbled sleepily as he walked into the room.

"So you are alive after all" Parm said with a snort

"It's too early for sarcasm, Parm" Artha muttered and took a seat next to Sharrd

"It's never too early for sarcasm, Artha" Sharrd told him "Now why don't you finish coming back to life and we can get going, as soon as Lance is up that is"

"I'm up" Lance came walking into the room, looking more awake and alert than his brother.

"Alright. That means we can head out, as soon as Artha decided he's not a slug" Kitt said

"I was never a slug in the first place" Artha complained, starting to become more awake

"Come on then, not-slug-boy, we've got people to meet and this time I know where everyone is. I checked, so no more missing people like we did Mai" Sharrd told him

"So who are we visiting first?" Lance queried as they saddled their dragons

"Oh you boys will love this. We're going to meet Terros. He's the leader of the Force of the Dragon crew and also a Drag Ball star. It's a little bit of a ride this morning because Terros is out in the mountains helping with some mining shipments for the Dragon's Forges. But it'll be worth it to see the mountains in person. They're spectacular up close"

They followed Sharrd out of the quiet city and across the flat land that covered the area between the brightly gleaming walls of Dawn Scale and the impressive outlines of the mountains in the distance. The ride out there was silent until they reached the base of the massive structures.

"How can anything be that big?!" Parm asked in awe

"Time, my friend. Time is the answer" Sharrd replied

"And people live out here?" Kitt asked

"Oh yes. Some of the first settlers in this part of the world lived in the mountains themselves. Today the main base of our Force of the Dragon crew still resides within the mountains. The crew is responsible for all the mining operations and excavations that go on. Terros is here to lend a hand and supervise today"

"That's pretty neat" Artha remarked

"Just wait until you see this" Sharrd patted Vulken and he gave a loud, resonating roar that echoed through the mountain valley. A moment later there was a rumbling reply from an unseen Earth class and Artha blinked a few times to be sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. A section of the mountain about twenty feet by twenty feet slid in and to the side, revealing a well lit passage way that led inside the mountain, which looked solid from the outside, but upon closer inspection appeared to be hollow and full of these tunnels. They walked through the door and it closed behind them with a small hiss. The seams of the door were so perfect that from the outside you would never be able to tell that there was a whole system of caves and passages within.

"This is incredible!" Parm exclaimed

"It's certainly one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. The other is Stable Boy winning a race" Kitt remarked

Artha glared at her but ignored the comment and looked up at the high carved ceiling above them. Everywhere tunnels seemed to just pop out of the rock. More strange crystals lit the subterranean passageways just like the lights at the Dragon's Shadow compound. The main difference was that these emitted a soft warm yellow glow and were placed in elegant brackets set in the walls. It gave the impression of an underground palace or city.

"What are those lights?" Lance asked

"They're a combination of white draconium in a very pure stage and some luminous crystals that form naturally in the caverns. The draconium amplifies the strength of the glow and durability of the crystal itself so that they are only rarely replaced" They walked on through some more tunnels until they arrived at a metal door "This is the door to the outside mining operations. The stone and ore is harvested outside and brought in through some central shafts to the shipping area, where it is loaded and packed onto some Earth class and Bull class dragons that take it back to the city for refining or other purposes. We'll find Terros out here" Vulken pushed open the door with a heave of his front paw and they walked out in to bright sunlight.

As soon as their eyes adjusted to the light they were met with a mass of equipment, safety railings, people, dragons, and above all: rock. A big man who bore some resemblance to Shane and Kawake stood in the center of it all, directing the goings on in a loud voice. He wore light blue-white work clothes with a brown hexagon-like symbol on his shoulder. His skin was deep shade of brown and thin strips of black hair covered his head. He turned at the sound of the door opening and grinned

"Sharrd! There you are, you little scamp" his voice was deep and friendly and his eyes were a light hazel with specks of blue in them.

"Terros I'm eighteen. Just because you're five years older than me doesn't mean you can call me scamp" she smiled at him, like one teasing a favorite uncle. _**(AN: Terros is 23)**_

"Fair enough" he acknowledged, then turned to the Penn crew "So have you brought me more workers?" he laughed at the startled expressions "Just kidding. Welcome to my second home" he shook hands with all of them, smiling when Kitt returned his strong grip "Easy there fiery one, you have no need to prove yourself to me" Kitt grinned up at the big man. He reminded her of an old racing coach she had once had.

"Excuse me for just a second; I need to make a call." Sharrd said

"No problem" Artha shrugged

Sharrd nodded "You guys can introduce yourselves while I'm doing that. Lady, gents, I'll be over here if you need me" she walked away and turned on her wrist com. She hit a few buttons and less than a minute later the image of a short man in light green with rust colored hair and a beard and orange-brown eyes appeared on the screen.

"Who the devil is it now?!" he snapped "I'm a very busy man and- oh! Sharrd, I didn't realize it was you. My deepest apologies, I'm in the middle of a very important project and this isn't the first time I've been interrupted" he glanced over his shoulder and hollered "No, not the monkey wrench you fool! Use the Allen wrench!" he turned back to Sharrd "See? Now what can I do for you, my dear?"

She quickly explained about the Penn crew and the meet and greet "…and I was hoping that you could spare a moment to meet them. Their mechanic, Parmon, nearly lit up like a Christmas tree when I mentioned the forge"

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully "As you can see I'm rather busy with getting all the gear ready for race season, which is right around the corner, but seeing as they've come all the way from our sister city I don't see why I can't spare a few minutes to pop by say hello. If their mechanic is interested in the forge, then I shall evaluate him. How soon are you going to be coming?"

"Well we're with Terros right now and your compound is about twenty minutes from here, so twenty minutes, half an hour if we take a detour to see the sights on the way back to the city"

"Ah…" he trailed off and there was a loud crash followed by several resonating clangs

"Would an hour be better for you?"

He gave her a small smile "That would be much preferable, considering the mess some boneheaded apprentices just made by the sound of that crash"

"Can do. We'll swing by and see Bollt first then come to you"

"Excellent. An effective solution"

"You sound like you've got some work to do, let's just hope the forge and the compound are still standing when we get there"

"Yes although there may be some young Dragon's Forges without a job in the next hour. Tell the lady in grey I said hello" he turned around when there was a screeching noise "Togle! How many times have I told you that you don't have to squeeze the life out of the poor screws! If it's already in then it doesn't need to go any further!" he walked away to chastise said student and Sharrd shook her head

"Don't be too hard on them Gearr!" she called after him and hung up. She made her way back to the others. Terros was just entertaining Lance and Artha with a play-by-play of his latest Drag Ball match.

"Then this other kid comes out of nowhere and tries to block my partner. I slammed him into his buddy and pinned them both to the pillar. Then my partner went to take the shot and-"

"Sorry to interrupt Terros but we need to move on. We're off to see Bollt next" Sharrd interjected

"Aw but I was just getting to the best part" he complained mockingly

"I know but you'll have to finish your story later. We're on a bit of a tight schedule if we're going to see Gearr before he gets sucked back into his work"

"I understand. Sometimes that man gets so wrapped up in his work that he couldn't tell what time of day it was if he was making a clock" Terros said. Turning back to the Penn crew he added "I look forward to getting to know you all in your time with us. And perhaps you would like to attend my next Drag Ball match?"

"That would be awesome!" Artha exclaimed

"Yeah!" Lance agreed

"Then I'll be more than happy to get you seats for the match. It's the evening before race season starts so it won't interfere with you racing" Terros told them

"Thanks so much, we really appreciate this" Kitt said with a smile. She happened to be a fan of Drag Ball as well.

"Well it looks like you've got something to look forward to" Sharrd remarked "Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Terros. I know you're busy"

"We're all busy, Sharrd, but I am more than happy to greet any visitors we have, especially ones from our sister city" the big man replied

"Alright then. It looks like we're off" Sharrd declared. After a last round of goodbyes they took to the tunnels again. The ride back to Dawn Scale was spent chatting about races and different tracks and the like. They passed through the outer wall and the inner wall and into the city proper.

"Are we going to the Dragon's Forges next?" Parm asked hopefully

"Not quite yet" Sharrd told him "I called Gearr when we were in the mountains and he's just a little busy at the moment so I made plans to meet with him in about half an hour. We're going to see Bollt first. Her compound isn't too far out of the way"

"Grey draconium right?" Artha asked

"Yep. The Broken Dragon crew. Just like your Mechanists crew they aren't very social, even less so than the Dragon's Shadows believe it or not, and not many of them reside in the city. Most prefer to remain in their main compound in the Bone Desert, which connects to the Plains of Despair"

"At least they communicate and don't vanish into mid air" Parm grumbled

"They don't vanish that's true, but as for communication, only a handful speak common, and only a few do so fluently"

"So that man yesterday was speaking in another language?" Artha asked

Sharrd looked at him sharply "Yes" she said in a tight voice "He was. The Broken Dragons have their own dialect of an ancient language that is complicated to learn so most don't"

"But you do right?" Lance asked

"Yes, that I do. I have a particular affinity for languages and it intrigued me so I learned it"

"If they don't speak common then how do they communicate with other crews or other people in general?" Kitt asked

"I said most don't. Remember that each crew has a leader and six pairs of elites, the pair consisting of the dragon and their rider. For Broken Dragons, among other things, it is a required that you speak fluent common to become an elite"

"That makes sense" Parm nodded

"We're almost there" Sharrd pointed up the street to a solid grey building less than half a block away "And we're in luck. Bollt is right outside" she indicated a woman in full grey with a Bone dragon. They skidded to a halt and the woman looked up at them.

Bollt was tall, like many of her fellow leaders, and would have probably been just above Terros's shoulder height. Her short, light brownish-blonde, hair fell just past her ears and was slightly curly. Her eyes were an unsettling blue that was almost white and reminded one of florescent lighting. She wore long pants and a long sleeve shirt, both the same shade of dull light grey. She wore a short elbow length jacket with a high collar and a symbol of a broken chain on her shoulder. A series of clips for her racing suit crisscrossed her midriff and round her waist she had two belts at an angle that formed an X across her hips. Her boots covered her calves and were striped with an assortment of buckles. _**(AN: Bollt is 21) **_

Her dragon was just like Libris but obviously smaller and with subtle differences in his skeletal structure.

"Well if it isn't Miss Sunshine" her voice was stern and gave the impression that she was mocking them subtly.

"Really? I don't see Coal anywhere?" Sharrd replied, dismounting

"Ha! That famous sarcastic humor is the only reason I can put up with you"

"Don't I know it. Put on a slightly less moody face and say hello to our visitors"

"Hello" Bollt said with absolutely no change in demeanor

"I guess that's as close as we're going to get to a warm welcome isn't it"

"Correct Sharrd" She glanced up at the Penn crew and said "I'll learn your names eventually so don't bother giving them now" she turned and went into the compound without sparing them a second glance.

"Let's find our way over to the Dragon's Forge compound" Sharrd suggested and they followed her around the city.

"Are we there yet?" Lance complained

"I'll only say yes if you stop asking and look for yourself" Sharrd replied. Before them was a strange light green building with chimneys that looked like some sort of factory.

"Is that the forge?!" Parm asked excitedly

"No, that's the compound. Though Gearr did say he would test you to see if you're allowed into the forge" Sharrd assured him

"Oh my, this is so exciting" Parm crowed, glancing around him like a child on Christmas.

"Just wait until you see the inside. The Dragon's Forges run all of the manufacturing and repair stations for the entire city. But because that's such a huge job they often have workers from other crews come in" they entered through the automatic doors, which amazed Parm to no end. The main room, if one could call it that, was massive and filled with equipment of every shape and size. They all dismounted and Sharrd stepped forward "GEARR!" she hollered "WHERE ARE YOU?" there was a small clang and then a thud and a somewhat short man staggered out from behind a piece of machinery.

"You didn't have to yell so loud" he grumbled as he walked over. He was taller than Stewarrd but shorter than Sharrd. He was dressed in brown leather overalls and a light green welding jacket with his crew symbol on the sleve. His boots were brown leather, stained black from years of use and his short wiry rust colored hair stuck out at all angles, giving him a ruffled appearance. _**(AN: Gearr is 20) **_

"Well usually if I don't yell you never hear me" she replied

"Fair enough" he acknowledged

"Hello" Parm said nervously "I'm Parmon, but please call me Parm"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Gearr, but I'm guessing you already figured that out from Sharrd shouting my name a minute ago. Now how about the rest of you?"

"I'm Kitt"

"I'm Lance"

"And I'm Artha"

"Wonderful. I hear you're from out of town. That earth quake was a nasty piece of business for sure, but without it you would never have had cause to visit us so at least one good thing came of such a terrible calamity"

"I suppose so" Artha agreed

"I have heard from Sharrd that you, young Parm, have an interest in our forge. Is that correct?"

"Um yes, that's right" Parm stuttered

"Then perhaps you can come by the compound sometime in the near future and I shall judge your knowledge."

Parm was frozen with happiness and Lance had to nudge him in the ribs before he replied "That would be great!"

Gearr nodded. There was a shout from somewhere in the building and Gearr rolled his eyes "Those two are going back to basic training. I don't know what possessed our instructors to declare them ready to work in the shop" he waved and hurried back into the maze of metal and vanished from sight.

"Well that was interesting" Kitt remarked as they exited into the daylight

"That was amazing!" Parm exclaimed

"If you think that was grand just wait until you get to see the forge. Your mind will literally explode" Sharrd told him

"That's not even possible people's brains can't actually…" Parm trailed off as he realized she had been joking.

"So where to next?" Artha asked

"Funny you should ask, Artha…"

** End of Intro Time Part 4**

**So was that fast enough for some of you. I cannot promise the next chapter will upload as quickly but I will see what I can do. I would just like to add that I did forget in the last chapter to mention the ages of those crew leaders. I went back and changed it so if you look now it should be there but I'll list them here as well: Vortx is 18, Rumma is 19, and Shayde is 19. **

**Lady of D out! Peace! **


	8. Chapter 8 Intro Time V

The Dawn Scale City Chronicles by The Lady of Dragons

Chapter 2 – Intro Time!

Part 5- Coal, Tydal and Sharrd (sort of)

"It's funny you should ask Artha because we're going to visit Coal. You wanted to meet him right?" Sharrd asked.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that."

"Well it looks like you're going to get your wish Artha." Kitt remarked.

"Volcanites if I remember correctly." Parm said thoughtfully.

"Good memory." Shard nodded "Now let's get a move on. Time's a wasting and Coal gets grumpy when he's impatient." She chuckled and took off down the street. A few blocks later the red building that was undoubtedly the Volcanite compound came into view. It was tall and consisted of one main tower of sorts ringed by several smaller buildings and connected to them at ground level by hallways.

"Neat place." Kitt remarked, looking at the practice track.

"That track was built for Magma class dragons specifically to test their limits." Sharrd explained, noticing the direction of Kitt's gaze. "And just like back at Dragon City there are magma caverns with tracks set in them. Those are inside one of the mountains that is closer to the ocean and run deep underground."

"I can't wait to race on those." Kitt said, smiling at the prospect of a challenge "What do you think boy?" She asked, patting Wyldfyr.

He grinned **"Sounds like fun." **Although Kitt couldn't understand him.

Sharrd laughed inwardly at his words and smiled.

** 'Like rider like dragon.' **Vulken said.

** 'Yes V, like rider like dragon.' **She replied.

** 'The same could be said of us you know.' **

** 'The same could be said of many pairs.'**

** 'True enough.' **

"Hey Sharrd, you ok?" Artha asked, noticing she was not paying attention.

"What? Oh I'm fine." She assured him. He just shrugged and decided to ignore it.

They entered the compound and Sharrd waved to the sentry "Thanks Phoenyx!"

"No problem! And if you're looking for him, he's on the track. He got bored of waiting for you!"

"Just like him too!" Sharrd replied, shaking her head.

"Sounds like someone I know." Kitt remarked with a glance at Artha.

Sharrd laughed "They're more alike than you know. This way guys." They made their way over to the edge of the race track just in time to see a long legged Magma class dash past them and start around the track again. Sharrd focused for a second **'Migma we're here. Would you two mind taking a break to say hello?' **

'**Ah, there you are. He was wondering what was keeping you. I'm coming now.' **

Artha watched as the red dragon skidded to a halt with no visible prompting from its rider and trotted over to them.

"Hey! What's gotten into you Migma!?" the dragon's rider cried. He pulled off his helmet and looked around. He spotted Sharrd and gave a wry smile. "That explains it." He slid out of his saddle and landed on the ground in a small puff of dust "I really hate it when you do that, Sharrd."

She laughed "Well how else am I supposed to get you attention with you zipping around like that?"

"I suppose it's better than throwing a bucket of water at me." He admitted "Or anything else your over-creative mind can concoct."

"Yes, consider yourself lucky." She replied.

"Very lucky." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder as he faced the others. He was a few inches taller than Sharrd, which put him at Artha's height. His eyes were a light amber-gold and his red hair was streaked with orange. He wore a light red racing jacket with yellow stripes and a high collar that was unzipped a little. He had a symbol on his left at chest level that looked like a flame that was dark red at the bottom and then orange as it went up ending in yellow. His pants were orange and he wore short red boots with thin yellow stripes and grey bottoms.

Coal's dragon was as tall as Wyldfyr but her tail was ridged and her paws were dark orange. The spines that ran from her head to her tail were yellow and she herself was a deep red. Twisting orange patterns covered her scales and her green eyes gleamed with intelligence.

Artha didn't like the way Coal talked to Sharrd or how friendly he was with her, and it occurred to him that maybe they were a couple. After all according to Sharrd they had known each other for a long time and it was certainly obvious they cared for each other a great deal.

"So, do I get the pleasure of knowing your names or are we just going to stand here judging each other silently for the next ten minutes?" Coal asked with a smile.

"I'm Lance Penn." Lance said, then smirked and added, "The one drooling over your girlfriend is my brother, Artha."

Coal blinked and looked at Lance, evidently confused "Girlfriend?"

Sharrd laughed. "I think he's talking about me, Coal."

Coal's face turned slightly red with embarrassment and he said quickly, "Sharrd's not my girlfriend."

"Oh. My bad." Lance apologized awkwardly.

"No, it's ok Lance." Sharrd assured him as Coal glanced at her with a look on his face that clearly said 'I wish'.

Coal cleared his throat. "That aside, let's continue with the introductions."

"My name is Kitt Wann and this is Parmon Sean, though he prefers to be called Parm."

"And as my little brother already said I'm Artha, and I'm not drooling over anybody."

"Hey, I never said you were. Little brothers enjoy causing trouble and I totally get that, heck I've been that little brother."

"Yes, and you caused plenty of trouble." Sharrd said, looking up at him.

"Oh, and you were a little angle?"

"What's with all that sarcasm? I was a wonderful child."

"Yeah right. It wasn't like you were the one who put green dye in my toothpaste on graduation day."

"I told you that was Tydal."

"And what about the time you wrote 'Missing: brain. Return for reward' on the back of my jacket in permanent marker?"

"Ok that one was me, but the toothpaste thing was on Tydal."

"Suuuure it was."

"I hate to interrupt this walk back down memory lane but is there any chance I could test out that track?" Kitt asked.

"Of course you can, Sorry about that, sometimes I get distracted. I'd be more than happy to be your opponent if you'd like." Coal offered.

"Alright, you're on." Kitt smiled. They both mounted their dragons and moved to the starting line.

"Well this should be interesting." Sharrd remarked and went to stand at the side of the track.

"**Are you ready little one?" **Migma asked Wyldfyr.

"**I am not little and I'm always ready." **Wyldfyr retorted**.**

"**I like your fire. Let us see if you can match mine." **Migmareplied**.**

"Let's see if you can keep up." Kitt called over the sound of the countdown.

"Keep up? I'll do better than that." Coal replied as the last buzzer sounded.

Migma and Wyldfyr tore out of the starting lane and barreled up the track. Almost immediately obstacles sprang up and Kitt slowed down to avoid them. Coal sped up and Migma vaulted off the ground, clearing the first round of obstacles with ease. Kitt growled and hurried after them. The track began to twist upwards until it became completely vertical and then it curved over and back down again, forming a sort of spiral. Kitt managed to catch up with Coal on that section and they were neck and neck as they rounded the bend. The track began to wander back and forth like a giant snake and it was difficult to control movement as such speed. The track evened out and more obstacles popped up. Pit falls pocketed the surface and rounded hammers swung from every angle. The finish line came into sight and Kitt was about to overtake Coal when Migma lowered her head and tucked her body in, leveling her tail like an arrow. Coal flattened himself in the saddle and Migma whizzed past Kitt. Wyldfyr, determined not to lose, put on an extra burst of speed, clearing the finish line at the same time as Migma.

"Not bad. Not bad at all." Coal said, sitting up "You're going to fit in very well around here if you keep racing like that."

"Thanks. You're not half bad yourself." Kitt replied.

Coal laughed. "Well I didn't become crew leader by sitting in the dirt all day."

"How did you do that last trick?" Kitt asked.

"Oh that? You just have to pull in and get rid of any excess drag. It works best with straight up racing, without any gear. We call it Arrowing." Coal explained.

"I'll have to remember that." Kitt nodded.

"So anyone else want a go?" Coal asked, turning to the others.

"Maybe some other time." Artha said. He was starting to like this Coal guy. He was a nice guy, a decent racer, and more importantly, he wasn't dating Sharrd.

"He's got a point Coal; we've got some other people to visit today after you." Sharrd said, walking over.

"I get it. I look forward to that other time, Artha." Coal said politely.

"Me too." Artha replied.

"So where are you off to next?" Coal asked.

"Tydal." Sharrd replied.

"Tell him I said hey. I'll catch you later." He waved and walked away, followed by Migma.

The Aqua Scales compound was a sprawling set of light blue buildings, each one different from the last.

A woman in light blue standing in front of the gates was chatting speedily in what sounded like another language to a young boy with short blonde spiky hair. The boy nodded and said something back then hugged her and walked away. The woman turned around and caught site of Sharrd. She smiled brightly and held out her arms. Sharrd walked forward and they embraced.

"Sharrd! No me te vi en mucho tiempo! Come estas?!" the woman asked excitedly. **_(AN: For those of you who don't speak Spanish, she said: Sharrd! I haven't seen you in a long time! How are you!?)_**

"Hola Marrine, estoy muy bueno, gracias." Sharrd replied in kind _**(AN: Hello Marrine, I'm very good, thanks) **_"Can you stop hugging me now, please?"

"Pfft, you're such a hug killer." Marrine snorted and stepped back.

"I know Marri, but some of us don't survive on hugs." Sharrd replied with a smile.

"And I don't know how you can live like that." Marrine declared and crossed her arms.

Marrine had black hair with dark brown highlights that went halfway down her back in prominent waves. She had tanned skin and soft brown eyes that radiated an open kindness that made you feel welcome and gave the impression that she _really_ did care about you. She was a handful of inches taller than Sharrd and her light blue clothes were speckled with sequins, making her look like some sort of living rainbow. The Aqua Scales logo hung on a long chain around her neck and she had little blue swirl earrings.

"I have some new friends for you to meet, and hug." Sharrd indicated the gang and Marrine smiled brightly again.

"Bienvenido, me llamo Marrine." when they gave her confused looks she lightly smacked herself on the forehead and giggled "Sorry, I said: Welcome, my name is Marrine."

"Oooh." They all said in unison.

"It's nice to meet you." Marrine grinned as they introduced themselves.

"So, Marri, where's Sunai?" Sharrd asked with a small smile of her own.

"Hmm…" Marine thought for a moment "He's around somewhere."

"Well that's specific." Sharrd crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"To be honest, I'm not sure where he is right now. We don't keep tabs on each other like the Dragon Fang. I think I heard him say something about the river, but that was a few hours ago."

"Alright then, we'll have to check there and hope we get lucky. See you later Marine." Marine waved and walked away humming to herself.

"It's a completely different atmosphere here than at the other compounds." Parm remarked "They're all so laid back, like they haven't got a care in the world."

"Well, watch a little closer if that's the impression you get." Sharrd told him "They're certainly more laid back, but they're not slackers, not at all. Not everyone knows where everyone else is at all times, but if you need to find someone you'll find them. The Aqua Scales have the connections to get information if and when they need it. But things are much more lose here than other places, so you are partially correct."

"So what's the river she mentioned?" Kitt asked.

"Ah. Good question. It's a river." Sharrd replied teasingly.

"No, really?" Lance said sarcastically.

"I know it's hard to believe. But sarcasm aside, the river is the main source of water that flows from the harbor into the city. There are a few other sources but this is the biggest."

"Do you use it for drinking water?" Parm asked.

"Yes, we do, as well as a lot of other things that I don't know anything about."

"But isn't the harbor on the ocean?" Lance inquired "How can you drink salt water?"

"It's not salt water. I'm surprised you haven't heard about it. Dawn Scale City's sea is freshwater. It's not really connected to other major oceans so the freshwater from all the rivers that feed into it keep it clean and free of salt."

"Well that's certainly something you don't see every day." Kitt remarked.

"Yeah. Anyway, Tydal loves to go and sit by the river. He does it all the time. It's pretty neat but I don't know what exactly it is that fascinates him so much. It's near the back of the main compound, so just past here and through this aqueduct gate." they passed through a huge tunnel with a wrought iron gate that slid up and down with a series of pulleys. Once out of the tunnel they emerged outside the inner wall of Dawn Scale and entered the space between, known as the middle ground or the courtyard. It was green and covered with trees as well as a thick soft grass of some sort. The river gushed past them and on towards another gated opening in the outer wall several meters away.

There was a collection of rocks under the shade of some trees and a light blue dragon lay curled around the base of one. Atop the rock, leaning with his back against a tree, sat a young man dressed in a similar shade of light blue with wavelike patterns of a slightly darker blue splashed across his clothes. He had wavy black hair that was streaked with strands of light blue. His eyes were closed and he was listening to something through a pair of white headphones with his arms crossed loosely across his chest.

His dragon raised her head and blinked her light brown eyes at them once before returning to her previous position. She also had splashes of white across her cerulean blue scales and fin-like spines along her tail and legs.

Sharrd walked over to him and pulled out her staff. She gently poked the side of his head with one end, grinning as she did so. He opened one dark blue eye and swatted her staff away with a knowing smile on his face. He pulled off his headphones and stood up.

"Hey Sharrd, it's great to see you. How've you been?" He hugged her and he hugged him back.

"I've been great, thanks for asking. Things certainly seem to be going well around here." She said as she stepped back.

"They are, as usual, running smoothly." He replied "So who might your new friends be?"

"Guys, this is Tydal. Tydal this is the Penn crew from Dragon City." Sharrd introduced them individually.

"Nice to meet you all. I heard you paid Coal a visit, or did he get impatient and go off to do something else?"

"Oh, he was there. He was running laps out of sheer boredom when we got there."

"Sounds just like him." Tydal grinned but his expression changed to a slightly awkward one when he asked "So, um, have you seen Hunnter?"

"Yes, and she's doing just fine. As a matter of fact she asked me yesterday how you were."

"Oh, ok, thanks." He looked a little embarrassed and hastily shook it off "So you guys are the members of the Penn crew I've been hearing about?"

"Yeah, that's us." Artha replied.

"Rumma was chatting about it this morning on the radio." Tydal remarked.

"Ah." Sharrd sighed "Of course."

"Yep that's our Rumma." Tydal agreed.

Their visit with Tydal lasted a while longer but soon enough they were off again, this time back into the city.

"So, that's it, right? That's all the crews?" Parm asked.

"Yes, that's all the crews, but I wanted to show you guys around my home compound to finish off this little tour."

"Sounds good to me." Kitt remarked.

"Great. It's not too far from here. It's actually just a few blocks from the Dragon Fang compound."

Another large compound building was coming into view. This one bore the same silver diamond with black claw marks that was depicted on Sharrd's shoulder. The color was hard to describe. It wasn't grey, but it wasn't exactly silver either. In front of the main gates a woman in dark blue stood. As they approached she looked up.

"Ah, Sharrd. I was just looking for you."

"Well here I am. So what's up? I thought you were at the initiation."

"I was. It finished early and I decided to return and see if you'd be interested a match or two of our usual sport."

"I'd love to, but I've got a few things to do before I can take you up on that offer. And speaking of which, I have some people I would like you to meet. Guys this is Mai, Mai this is the Penn crew. They're going to be joining us for the race season this summer."

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Mai said with a small bow. Much like Erra, her features were reminiscent of an Asian background. Her long black hair was tied in a simple ponytail and she wore no jewelry except a small circle stone of some sort in a dark brown frame on a long white string around her neck. Her dark brown eyes were relaxed but held no indication of what she was thinking. One could tell that she was extremely intelligent. She wore a simple outfit all in dark blue, with long sleeves and tall navy blue boots.

With her was a dark blue dragon. He was long legged and slim-bodied just like most of his kind, but with unusual white lightning patters along his body, head, legs, and tail. One of his eyes was a curious sliver grey and the other and amber gold. His claws were white, as was the curved pattern on his belly.

Sharrd was about to say something else but at the same moment a light on her com. link and one on Mai's began to blink furiously. She glanced at it quickly and met Mai's eyes in a silent exchange of information.

"Sorry guys, the tour will have to wait. I've got some critical business to take care of. I trust you can find your way back to your place from here?"

"Yeah, we can get home alright." Artha told her, looking rather puzzled.

"Where are you going?" Lance asked.

"Some important crew business." She replied simply, unwilling to specify any further.

"Sharrd." Mai's voice had a barely audible touch of urgency as she mounted her dragon.

"I'm coming. Bye guys, I'll see you around." And with that Vulken turned and thundered away, Volttage close on his heels.

"I wonder what's occurred." Mai said.

"I don't know, but it's gotta be important. Otherwise she wouldn't have called us."

"Yes, let's just hope that it is nothing too grievous."

** End of Intro Time Part 5 **

** Sooooo. I wonder what could send Sharrd and Mai running off like that. Hmmm….**


	9. Chapter 9 Races and Secrets I

The Dawn Scale City Chronicles by The Lady of Dragons

Chapter 3 – Races and Secrets

Part 1 – Dragon Thunder

A week has passed since last we saw our heroes, or _hero_, and the very first race of the season is set to begin in just under an hour.

Artha and Parm walked towards their race tent on their way to retrieve the gear rack for the race when they heard someone shout, "HEADS UP!" and quickly ducked. There was a thud and a piece of thick blue draconium landed in a heap of boxes a few feet away. They heard another voice, different from the one that had shouted.

"Pierse, I told you that combination of gear didn't work," the new voice was soft and very pleasing to the ear, even in a chastising tone. Artha and Parm whirled to find the source of the disturbance and found a young woman standing with an eyebrow raised and one hand on her hip, looking at a brown haired teenage boy. The woman noticed them, "Are you two alright?"

Their reply was cut short as she walked over. She was extremely beautiful. Her dark skin was smooth and bore not a blemish or scar. Her soft inky black hair was shot through with streaks of light green and pulled up into an intricate net of braids. Her racing jacket was a light forest green, with angular silver swirls on the shoulders accompanied by the Dragon Claw mark on her upper left sleeve. Her smile was bright and went all the way to her sparking green eyes.

"We're perfectly fine, Miss…" Parm trailed off in a silent request for her name.

"I'm Bladde, one of the Dragon Claw elites," she replied kindly. "The one who almost blew your heads off is Pierse."

"Hey! I didn't almost blow anyone's head off," the teen replied grumpily as he joined them. "It's not my fault Tinkr couldn't fix a cuckoo-clock."

_**(AN: Bladde is 19 and Pierse is 16, making him the youngest of the Dragon Claw elites.)**_

"No, but you're the one who let him try to fix your gear."

"Alright, fair enough. Anyway, sorry about that."

Artha waved a hand dismissively, "Nah, don't worry about. Right, Parm?"

"Oh, what? Yes! Sorry, I'm afraid I was a bit distracted."

"That's perfectly alright," Bladde flashed him a smile. "It was nice meeting you. Come on, Pierse, we have to get the gear matrixes recalibrated if you want Dagger's draconium to flow properly when you use them. Otherwise it might go off again." She placed a hand on his shoulder and led him back to the dragon whose gear had exploded.

Parm stared after her, "She was talking about gear circuits and matrixes. And she knew what she was talking about. Oh my."

Artha suddenly got an idea as he watched the two elites walk off. "Hey Parm, I can get the gear on my own if you want to go help them."

"Are you sure?" Parm took a tentative step forwards. "I can always come with you…if you need help…"

Artha put a hand on his shoulder, "Parm, just go."

Parm smiled, "Thanks Artha." He hurried after Bladde and Pierse. "I'll meet you by the tent ten minutes before the race!" he called over his shoulder.

"See ya!" Artha waved and grinned, shaking his head. Parm sure had a knack for making things hard for himself.

"MIGMA! COME BACK HERE!" Coal bellowed as he chased after his dragon. He chased her through the streets, dodging people and dragons left and right. She ran ahead of him, slowing herself so she was only just out of reach. Coal growled and ran faster, but she continued to elude him.

This had started just a bit ago, back at the Volcanite compound. Coal had been getting ready to leave for the race track, and while he was trying to saddle her, she had bucked off the saddle, causing it to land on him, snatched up his wrist com. in her jaws from a nearby table, and dashed out of the stables, leaving him in the dust.

Now he chased her into the mass of people at the race track, without really registering where he was. He also wasn't watching where he was going.

_Thud._

He ran smack into the solid mass of a dragon and was knocked backwards, sprawling on the ground. He sat up and tried to ease the pain in his head, "Ow."

"Coal?"

He opened his eyes and looked up at Sharrd. Evidently, he had crashed into Vulken, and he felt rather stupid for not seeing the large _bright blue_ dragon right in front of him. But, to be fair, he had been blinded by anger.

He gave a mental groan as he understood Migma's plan. Oh, she was clever, that little red devil dragon of his, yes, she was. Here he was. Alone. With Sharrd.

"Coal, are you ok?"

He could feel himself heating up at her concern and quickly nodded.

**"Why doesn't anyone ever ask me if I'm ok?" **Vulken grumbled, pretending to be hurt by her lack of worry over him.

"Because we know _you're _ok. Your scales are as hard as a rock and you weigh about as much," Sharrd replied, rolling her eyes.

**"Are you calling me fat?" **

"No, I am not calling you fat. Mature dragons are supposed to be heavy. Not that you're mature by any means."

**"Now that was just mean. I am more mature than you are, little human, both mentally and physically!"**

"You did _not_ just call me little! I may be short, but I'm older than you!"

Coal watched in amusement. He could only understand one side of the conversation, but it was hilarious to watch them bicker sarcastically back and forth. At Sharrd's latest outburst, he couldn't help it any longer and began to laugh.

Sharrd looked at him skeptically, grinning despite herself, "And what are you laughing at? Last I checked, you came sprinting in out of nowhere and ran smack into Vulken without realizing he was there."

"Yeah, I did," and he continued to laugh. She joined him and he noticed Migma standing a ways away. She walked leisurely over to them, smirking at him, and dropped his drool covered wrist com. on the ground next to him.

"Uhhh…" Sharrd shot him a questioning look.

He just shook his head, "Don't ask."

Migma grinned again, **"Hello, Sharrd. I brought your boyfriend."**

"He is not," Sharrd replied with an eye-roll.

Coal stood up, giving her a confused look, "I'm not what?"

"How do you know that wasn't directed at Vulken?"

"Was it?"

"No."

"Then what did she say?"

"Fine," Sharrd gave a small sigh. "She called you my boyfriend."

His face became slightly pale and he nodded, "Agreed."

She raised an eyebrow, "And just what is that tone supposed to mean?"

"What?"

"You know exactly what I mean," she poked him in the chest, looking as directly into his eyes as she could with their height difference.

Unfortunately for the two of them, it was at that exact moment that Parm and Bladde walked up to them. Seeing the two crew leaders only inches from each other, Bladde's eyes widened and Parm just stared awkwardly.

"Are we interrupting?" Bladde asked curiously.

Sharrd turned to face her elite and Coal breathed a sigh of relief that he was momentarily free of her scrutiny. "No, I was just chewing him out for something. Is there a problem?"

"Well, not exactly," Parm scratched his head in embarrassment. "I was looking for Artha and wondered if either of you had seen him."

"I can't say that I've seen him today," Coal replied. "Sharrd?"

"Nope. Sorry, Parm."

"That's alright, I'm sure I'll find him soon. Thanks anyway," he waved as Bladde led him off again. When they were out of sight Sharrd turned back to Coal.

"Now, where were we?"

He grimaced and sighed. She was not about to let him go without an explanation.

"Those two," Bladde shook her head and sighed.

"Yes, what is the deal with them? I thought Sharrd told us they weren't a couple."

"That's what they say. But they sure act like it sometimes. I don't think either of them realized that both their faces were pink a minute ago."

"They're just like Artha and Kitt. I guess that no matter where you go, some things never change."

"Well said, my foreign friend."

"Artha, come on. The race is going to start in fifteen minutes. You've been checking Beau's gear for the past ten. It's fine. Now let's get going," Kitt urged, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Hey, I'm the one racing with the crew leaders in the first race here."

"You won the coin toss, I know. Don't remind me."

"I have to make sure Beau's gear is on right; otherwise I'll lose for sure."

"What happened to that upbeat attitude of yours, Stable boy? I was getting used to the positivity."

"I am being positive. I'm positive that they'll beat me if I don't have my gear on right."

"I thought we'd cured that sarcastic attitude of yours."

"Can you please stop criticizing, and just help me check the gear? I want to do well in the first race and show the crews here that the Penn crew racers aren't pushovers."

Kitt smiled. She liked it when he talked like a real leader instead of an obnoxious teenager. "Sure. But we have to make it quick. Gear won't make any difference if we're not there when the race starts to use it."

Sharrd sat with her back against Vulken's side in front of the Dragon Claw tent. She was fuming silently. _The nerve of him! Running off without giving me an explanation. And not figuratively either. He literally _ran off _when I asked him. Seriously, you'd think after growing up together and living in the same house for just over ten years he'd be able to stand a few questions._

_** It's not the questions he's afraid of, it's the questioner. All the training in the world couldn't prepare him for you.**_

_** Vulken, that was private. **_

_** I'm your partner.**_

_** That still doesn't give you the right to intrude on my thoughts. **_

_** When I do it, it's never intruding. Our minds are connected, remember? **_

_** How could I forget? **_

_** That's what I'd like to know. But it's hard for things to remain private when you're shouting in your mind while it's open to mine. **_

_** Oops. My bad; I forgot to close it off before I started ranting.**_

_** Not a problem, Sharrd. **_He raised his head and nuzzled her affectionately. She smiled, lifting her hand to scratch the scales right under his jaw, and was rewarded with a deep rumbling purr.

"Hey, Sharrd! Ready to race?"

Sharrd looked up and grinned at Hunnter as the Dragon Fang strode calmly towards her. "When am I not?" she asked, getting to her feet.

"You sound like Coal."

"Don't speak to me of Solen right now."

"What, are you two having a lovers' quarrel?"

Sharrd stopped and raised an eyebrow, giving her friend a warning look, "There are so many ways in which I can respond to that that would make you embarrassed beyond belief."

"Okay, okay, I take it back. Just keep your embarrassing responses to yourself. Anyway, what happened?"

"I said I didn't want to talk about Solen right now."

"You must be pretty mad at him."

"What makes you say that?"

"Whenever you're really upset with him, you start calling him 'Solen' instead of Coal."

"Huh, I never noticed." _Why _am _I so upset with him? It's just him not wanting to answer a relatively awkward question, so what's got me so stirred up? _"I still don't want to talk about _Coal_ right now," she shot a pointed look at Hunnter.

"Alright, fine. I know when I'm fighting a losing battle."

"And uphill to boot."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get to the track already."

"Now you're talking."

"Then you can be angry at Coal in person."

"So much for 'a losing battle'."

"I'm a General, Sharrd. Sometimes even when I lose, I win."

Sharrd grumbled something unintelligible and they headed off for the race track.

_"All participants in the first race of the season please report to the starting line. The race will being in five minutes,"_ declared a voice from the loudspeakers.

"Ah. Roya's as prompt as ever," Tydal mused aloud.

"Who's Roya?" asked Artha. He and Kitt had run into the Aqua Scale leader on their way to the crew tents and Kitt had excused herself on the grounds of needing to find Parm and Lance before they got themselves in trouble. Now the two boys, accompanied by their dragons, made their way towards the throng of people gathered by the entrance to the starting line.

"Roya is one of the Blues," Tydal told him as they walked. "They're the triplet sisters who do announcements and serve as the race marshals. They're fraternal and each sister belongs to a different crew. Roya is an Order Code, Ajura is a Dragon's Whisper, and Cerula is one of mine."

"They're all from crews that are different shades of blue!"

Tydal chuckled, "That's why we call them 'the Blues'. Roya is dark blue, Cerula is light blue, and Ajura is turquoise. They've all got different personalities too."

"Does everything here have a hidden meaning?!" Artha demanded. He had only been in the city for a short time but he was already fed up with all the allusions and secret references that were abundant in Dawn Scale.

Tydal shrugged, "Almost everything. But you get used to it after a while. It's sort of like a big game."

"Okay, what's your name an allusion or reference to?" Artha raised an eyebrow skeptically.

Tydal chuckled again, "Come on, Artha, it shouldn't be that hard to figure mine out ." Artha just gave him a blank look, and Tydal shook his head, "Tydal Sunai. Tidal wave and tsunami are two different words for a big wave of water."

"Oooh," Artha smacked himself lightly on the forehead. Beau snickered and Artha glared at the dragon, "Give me a break, boy, you didn't get it either."

Beau held his head up stiffly and pretended to ignore his rider.

Tydal looked at the pair thoughtfully, "You know, you two remind me of Sharrd and the other Dragon Claws, the way you communicate."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but I suppose that's a conversation for another time. We have a race to win," and with an ease that inspired jealously and admiration at the same time, he swung himself smoothly into SlypStreem's saddle and the two dashed off.

"Sometimes I hate how cool that guy is," Artha muttered to himself. Beau nodded moodily. No Nautilus class had a right to move so fluidly, fishlike body or no.

"You and me both, Penn; and he's my best friend." Artha and Beau whirled to find Coal and his red dragon Migma standing being them. Coal grinned wolfishly, "Come on, you're lined up next to me. Let's go," he beckoned and they followed him, arriving at the starting line just in time for the short opening announcement.

"Welcome, racers from all crews, local or otherwise," Hunnter began. She stood with Onslaut in the middle of the track, just beyond the starting line, the Pack class standing proudly beside the young General. "Racing is not what our ancestors planned those many years ago when Dawn Scale was built, but they left us this magnificent city, with dragons so proud and strong it would be a dishonor to our founders _not_ to race! We must take full advantage of what we have been given, and let the world know Dawn Scale is the home of champions! So let this year's race season be the best Dawn Scale has ever had!"

The crowd let out a roar and Artha looked to his right at Coal, "Why is Hunnter doing the opening speech?"

Coal smiled, "Well, why wouldn't she? She's the head of the Council."

"Wait, you guys have a council too?"

"How else did you think we ran the city?"

Whatever Artha had been about to say was lost as the crowd cheered deafeningly. The cause of their excitement was three girls, each dressed in a different shade of blue, making their way out onto a small balcony protruding from a white building as Hunnter and Onslaut took their places at the starting line. Artha could only guess that the building was the race officials' headquarters.

The girl in dark blue, Roya, as Artha remembered, crossed her arms and began to speak, he voice amplified by a concealed microphone, "Alright, racers, you know the rules. No cheating, no excessive bashing or smashing, and no screaming excessively crude or rude things at your opponents; otherwise, you're out."

"Everybody ready?" the light blue triplet, Cerula, inquired from her position lounging atop the table behind her sisters. The crowd roared again in response.

"Then let's get this race underway!" Ajura, the turquoise triplet, declared happily.

Cerula smiled. "Reaady," she drawled, drawing out the word smoothly.

The crew leaders and their dragons crouched lower, settling themselves into the best starting positions as the starting lights began to flash red.

Roya's words were as stiff as her posture, "Set,"

Myght and Terros sat on the sidelines watching their companions. Their Bull and Earth class dragons weren't built for this kind of competition, but they would have their turn later when the first Jousting tourneys and Drag Ball matches began.

Ajura was beside herself as her turn came, "GOOOO!"


End file.
